by Dolapo Adelana

Benue Governor Samuel Ortom has said his former Senior Special Assitant on Security, Terwase Akwaza, also known as Gana was behind the recent attack in Zaki Biam.

Ortom, who addressed newsmen on Thursday shortly after visiting victims of the attack, said the culprits will be brought to book.

He said, “Our suspicion is clear, that this is from Gana. This heinous act has been perpetrated by Gana and his group who have constituted themselves into a terror group and have been terrorising the people.

“This is not the first time they have been killing. He killed Civilian JTF, killed Vigilante Group members, killed traditional rulers, killed his uncles, he has been killing all over the place.

“Just last week about eight people were killed in Ayati in the same Ukum local government area. This time again coming to attack a market, it’s a shame.

I want to take on the Sankera community; I want to invite them to a meeting. The traditional rulers who are the custodians of the land, I will give them an ultimatum to produce him because Gana is still residing within Gbishe area, specifically in Katsina-Ala local government.

“Security should be the responsibility of all, not just security agencies or government, it should be all of us working together to achieve peace. The police alone are not enough to provide security and at the same time do intelligence gathering and at the same time provide information.

“The people must be willing to assist them. You can imagine the consequences of living with a terrorist like Gana. We are going to hold a Security Council meeting and we’re going to take more decisive action based on professional advice that will be given to us. We know where this is coming from and if decisive action is not taken he will continue to recruit, he’s recruiting more. You can see why I refused to arm the youths when I was campaigning and I’m against it.

“You can see the extent of damage that is being caused by this same people having guns in their hands.

“You can now appreciate why I initiated the amnesty program to receive all those weapons from these criminals that were hovering around in the name of political thugs. I want to assure that I’m going to go all out after my meeting with stakeholders here; I will let my plan known to them so that nobody is caught unawares in the process.”

Oludolapo Adelana

Dolapo is a writer and journalist who works with YNaija. He has interests in Christianity, politics and sports.