Suswam condemns killing of Benue’s ‘most wanted criminal’ by Soldiers
Suswam and Gana
By NAOMI SHARANG
Chairman, Senate Committee on Power Gabriel Suswam has condemned the killing of repentant militia leader in Benue, Terwase Agwaza, also known as Gana, by men of the Nigerian Army in Gboko.
Suswam, who represents Benue North East, in a statement he issued in Abuja on Wednesday, said Terwase’s killing after turning a new leaf from crime and criminality by soldiers was counterproductive to peace already returning to the state.
According to him, a situation where a criminal has surrendered for a new way of life after persuasion from elders and leaders in the community and later killed by some state actors endangers the healing process as “this is time to heal and not to kill.”
The statement reads: “The events of Sept. 8, in my senatorial district where repentant criminals who had surrendered after extensive persuasions were singled out and killed extra judicially leaves a sour taste and has opened a gaping wound that requires all efforts to heal.
“It is no secret that my senatorial district has been traumatised and the people terrorised by activities of criminal gangs led by Mr Terwase Agwaza, alias Gana, for many years.
“The consequence of this endless terrorism has been a steady decline of economic and social activities leaving a once prosperous people pauperised.
“Markets no longer attract traders, schools are closed and farmlands abandoned. Politics in the area has become war with an uncontrolled proliferation of dangerous weapons.
“No responsible leader will idly standby and watch his community become a theatre of war and a gangster’s paradise.
“It is with this solution mindset that traditional rulers, clergymen and elders of the area decided to utilise means of constructive engagement and dialogue to ensure that the youth of the area do not become tools for the destruction of that society.
“The Benue Government along with the security agencies have long desired for a return to normalcy, peace, prosperity and security of the area.
“We were all excited to see the dreaded Gana come out of hiding to the warm embrace of our Traditional Rulers, Clerics and political leaders at a public function at the Akume Atongo Stadium in Katsina Ala.
“Our joy was multiplied when we saw him along with his militia surrender arms and publicly renounce a life of crime. Our revered King extracted a pledge from him never to turn his kingdom into a wasteland.”
Suswam further said that: “I was totally dumbfounded to learn that while Gana was on his way to Makurdi the state capital to present himself to the state governor who was waiting, his long convoy that included political leaders, traditional rulers, clergy men and security agencies was ambushed by allegedly armed soldiers and he was isolated and taken away.”
“I have been consistent in condemning the reign of terror he unleashed on his community.
“I cannot in good conscience as a lawyer of over three decades and a senior parliamentarian accept cold blooded extra judicial murder of an unarmed person as a solution to our security problems.
“An independent judicial commission of inquiry will unravel facts of the matter to serve as lessons for the future.” (NAN)
626621 895657I appreciate you taking the time to speak about them with people. 19052
Hey superb website! Does running a blog similar to this require
a great deal of work? I have very little knowledge of
programming however I had been hoping to start my own blog in the near future.
Anyways, if you have any ideas or tips for new blog
owners please share. I know this is off topic
however I simply wanted to ask. Thanks a lot!
Thanks very interesting blog!
Greetings from Ohio! I’m bored at work so I decided to check out your website on my
iphone during lunch break. I enjoy the info you present here and can’t wait to take a look when I get home.
I’m shocked at how fast your blog loaded on my
mobile .. I’m not even using WIFI, just 3G ..
Anyways, great site!
Hmm is anyone else encountering problems with the images on this
blog loading? I’m trying to find out if its a problem on my end or if
it’s the blog. Any feed-back would be greatly appreciated.
constantly i used to read smaller articles or reviews
that as well clear their motive, and that
is also happening with this article which I am reading now.
Excellent blog here! Also your site loads up fast!
What web host are you using? Can I get your affiliate link to your host?
I wish my web site loaded up as quickly as yours lol
Good information. Lucky me I found your website by chance (stumbleupon).
I have bookmarked it for later!
Hi there it’s me, I am also visiting this site daily, this website is in fact good and the people are
genuinely sharing nice thoughts.
This post will help the internet people for setting up new webpage or even a blog from start to end.
Ridiculous story there. What occurred after? Good luck!
Its such as you learn my thoughts! You seem to grasp so much about this,
like you wrote the guide in it or something.
I think that you just could do with some % to force the message home a bit, however other than that, this is
great blog. A fantastic read. I’ll certainly be back.
hey there and thank you for your information – I’ve definitely picked up anything new from right here.
I did however expertise a few technical points using this website, since I experienced to reload the website many
times previous to I could get it to load correctly. I had been wondering if your web host is OK?
Not that I am complaining, but slow loading instances times
will sometimes affect your placement in google and can damage your high-quality score if advertising and marketing with Adwords.
Well I am adding this RSS to my email and can look out for a lot more of your respective intriguing content.
Make sure you update this again soon.