Rose Ejembi, Makurdi
Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom on Friday disclosed that the people of Gbishe community in Katsina-Ala Local Government area of the state have given him the go ahead to ensure the arrest of one of their sons, Terwase Akwaza alias ‘Gana.’
Recall that Gana, the militia leader, was declared wanted about two years ago by the Benue State police command after he was fingered in the gruesome murder of the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Ortom on Special Security, Denen Igbana.
The state government also promised a ransom of N10 million to be given to anyone who gives relevant information that could lead to his arrest. But to date, several efforts by security operatives including the military to track and arrest him had not yielded any success.
“The governor who noted that the Katsina-Ala crisis was purely a criminal matter vowed that his government would never surrender to criminals.
“Our efforts in the past to arrest Gana were not successful because the people were not willing especially where Gana comes from. Now they have agreed, and we have now made up our minds to address the criminal issues in that axis.”
Ortom who noted that consultations were already on to bring a lasting solution to the crises in all parts if the state including the Shitile/Ikyurav crisis, Agatu fish pond crisis, Benue/Taraba crisis, Benue/Ebonyi boundary crisis among others. He lamented that most of the crises were fueled by criminals in the affected areas.
“We also saw a lot of criminal activities going on in those areas and we have given a directive that anyone found perpetrating violence should be apprehended and dealt with according to the law,” the governor stated.