By Emmanuel Iorbee, Makurdi
It is no longer news that one of the most wanted, Mr Terwase Agwaza aka Gana who was confirmed to have been terrorising some states in Nigeria mostly the states of Taraba, Nassarawa and Benue and was confirmed killed by the men of the Nigerian Army Special Force code name operation ‘Ayem A Kpatuma’.
The death of Gana is surrouded with controversies, while the Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom is alluding to the fact that Gana was forcefully taken away by a team of military men on their way with other repentant youths who were on their way to Makurdi where they were to be given amnesty by the State Security Council, but the military is insisting that Ghana had engaged them in a gun battle.
Ortom informed further that he was already in touch with the Commander of Operation Whirl Stroke, Maj-Gen Adeyemi Yekini who he said promised to get back to him on the matter.
He said an interception at Maseje in Gboko local government area by soldiers confirmed to be men of Operation Whirl Stroke led to the apprehension of Gana while some of the other repentant persons retreated as a result of the confusion.
The Governor stated that the recovered arms were also taken away by the soldiers who intercepted the convoy of vehicles conveying the repentant persons.
He noted that the amnesty programme followed series of requests by the traditional, political and religious leaders from the area to have armed youths terrorising Sankera to surrender illegal weapons in their possession and give peace a chance.
Governor Ortom said though over 80 repentant youths from Katsina-Ala, 67 from Logo and 25 from Ukum Local Government Areas surrendered their arms and were being conveyed to Makurdi, only 42 made it to the destination following the incident that led to the arrest of Gana.
He therefore granted amnesty to the 42 repentant youths, urging them to take the opportunity seriously and reintegrate themselves in the society and live normals lives.
It could be noted that the founder of Boko Haram terrorist group, (Ustaz)
Mohammed Yusuf in Maiduguri in
2009 was also killed in the say manner which rather aggrevated the situation uptill now in the North East. It can also be rightly observed that following the July 2009 Boko Haram uprising the Nigerian military captured the founder and leader Yusuf at his parents-in-law’s house. He was transferred to the custody of the Nigerian police force. The police thereafter summarily executed him in public view outside the police headquarters in Maiduguri. Police officials initially claimed either that Yusuf was shot while trying to escape, or died of wounds he sustained during a gun battle with the military.
It was after the death of Yusuf that his deputy Abubakar Shekau (Abu Mohammed Abubakar bin Mohammad al-Sheikawi) took over the leadership and today have one of the deadliest terrorist groups in the world.
The question now is, will the death of Gana be a plus or minus to our security situation in Benue and naighbouring states ? This will be left to be answered by the security agencies however, what is your opinion on this?
Drop your opinion on the opinion box.
