‘Gana’: Shark in the soup pot

He lived by the gun and died by the gun. That summarises the life and times of Terwase Akwaza, a.k.a Gana, the most wanted armed criminal in Benue state, who met his tragic end on Wednesday, September 8,in the hands of a special military Task Force. His death has raised a thick cloud of controversy, mixed feelings and emotions, suspicions, speculations and questions. He is survived by a future of compromised security in Benue state.

Gana, undoubtedly Benue state’s biggest contribution to the criminal world ever, started his career as a political thug nearly a decade ago. The man from Tor Donga, Katsina Ala Local Government Area, rose rapidly above mere thuggery and built a criminal empire with an underworld army of several hundreds of men who virtually took territorial control of his home base in Sankara (Katsina Ala, Logo and Ukum LGAs), Benue North-East Senatorial Zone (A). For years, Gana and his gang constituted themselves into an alternate government and enjoyed the status of a maxinum ruler in the jungle. He presided over the activities if his empire from the forests of Gbiseh, his immediate community where he enjoyed the protection of the community which shielded himfrom the arms of the law. He portrayed himself as the saviour and defender of the Tiv people but was st the same time perpetrated atrocities against his kinsmen including wanton and indiscriminate killings, armed robbery, rape, kidnapping, cattle rustling, among other criminal activities. Sometimes the gang reportedly extended its coverage across the borders into Taraba and Nasarawa states.

When Governor Samuel Ortom introduced Amnesty Programme in 2015, Gana turned in 84 assorted firearms and thousands of ammunitions, was granted amnesty and made leader of the programme’s beneficiaries. The state government appointed him a revenue consultant to rehabilitate him and other beneficiaries.

But it was not long before Gana and his men returned to the trenches when he was accused of sponsoring the assassination of Denen Igbanah, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Special Security. Gana, on his part, accused government of failure to honour its side of the Amnesty bargain. As Gana’s criminal activities got more brazen and he was becoming more elusive, the Benue state Security Council declared him wanted placed a prize of N10 million on his head for information that could lead to his arrest. It was later raised to N50 million. Yet, Gana was no where to be found – until the state Governor declared another round of Amnesty during an official visit to Sankara on September 4.

Following this declaration and an understanding between the state government, security agencies, traditional, political and spiritual leaders of Sankara and the criminals, Gana and nearly 200 of his gang members surrendered themselves, their arms, ammunitions and charms before a large crowd at the Akume Atongo stadium, Katsina-Ala on Tuesday, September 8. The ceremony was witnessed by government officials, members of the state Security Council, and prominent political, traditional and religious leaders from the area. At the end of the ceremony, Gana, accompanied by chairmen of the three LGAs of Sankara, his men and many others, took off in a long convoy headed for Makurdi, the State capital, about 85 kilometres away, where Governor Ortom was waiting to receive and grant them amnesty.

But near the roundabout at Yandev, near Gboko, the convoy was stopped at a roadblock mounted by men of the Federal Government special security task force, codenamed, Operation Whirlstroke. Eye witness accounts said the security team searched for and identified Gana who was seated beside the Chairman of Logo LGA in the latter’s official car. Everybody in the car, except Gana was reportedly ordered out of the vehicle. Thereafter, he and some other members of his gang were driven away. The gang leader never made it to Makurdi; only 42 of the criminals did and were granted amnesty by the Governor. The rest of the repentant criminals turned back.

Reports soon got to Ortom that Gana had been killed during a shoot out with men of the military team. No other account so far has corroborated the military’s claim of a gun battle with the criminal warlord.

Ordinarily, few would shed tears over the killing of a criminal warlord like Gana, considering the terror and fatality he unleashed on his people. His elimination ought to have brought a feeling of relief that lives and property would now be secure and plaudits for the military for weeding him out. But the reverse is the case as Gana’s death has generated huge sympathy for him and contempt for the military, due mainly to the manner in which he was captured and killed.

The circumstances evoke the image of a spineless fisherman who, for years, was too frightened to go near a shark-infested ocean. Then, by providence, strong waves wash the sharks onshore and the people are preparing a feast of the animals. deadly lord of the waters. At that point, the fisherman throws his line into the boiling pot and brings out the biggest slice of the meat and begin to claim credit for the capture of the deadly lord of the waters and craves medals of honour for his gallantry.

Gana’s killing by the military team also brings to memory how in the mid-2000s, an unarmed Ustaz Mohammed Yusuf, founder of a Maiduguri-based radical Islamic sect, was killed by the Nigeria Police for allegedly attempting to escape from police net. That singular extras judicial killing generated sympathy for the radical Islamic preacher and provoked his followers into transforming his religious sect into the deadly Boko Haram terrorist organisation that has since virtually overrun North-Eastern Nigeria. The similarity of the two cases has generated speculations about the motive of the military for the extra judiciary killing of Gana. One of them, is that the military, which has been occasionally been accused of not being serious in the fight against Boko Haram, decided to eliminate the warlord to prevent him from telling all he knows about the military’s complicity in the terrorists activities since he once confessed to having links with them.

Closely related to this is the speculation that Gana, who is believed to have the capacity to repel the deadly Fulani herdsmen attacks in the middle belt, was killed to pave the way for further unchallenged onslaught by the herdsmen, believed in the area to be agents of Boko Haram.

The military is also being alleged to be fishing for the ‘shark’ already in Benue state government’s pot of soup to enable it claim the N50 million prize money placed on Gana’s head. Apparently, in order to support their claim of capturing Gana genuinely, the military special task force has reportedly actually requested the Benue state government to award and pay them the money.

Another speculation arising from Gana’s killing was that the military colluded with Governor Ortom, Senator Gabriel Suswam, traditional and religious leaders in Sankera area to eliminate Akwaza. Implausible as this allegation may seem, the action of the military in killing the criminal after his surrender does no good to the integrity of the armed forces of the Giant of Africa. It reduces the military to the status of a militia that can be hired by any individual(s) or group(s) to execute their private agenda.

Although the above speculations – and more – will continue to circulate and probably fizzle out with time, a number of facts and possibilities have been established. First, notwithstanding the fact that Gana and his men were not yet covered by the state government’s declared amnesty at the time of their capture, the act of seizing and killing them while in government custody, by all accounts, is incontrovertible. By not subjecting them to due process, the military breached the norms and global best practices in military engagements.

Secondly, the glaring misapplication of force by the military has done an incalculable damage to its reputation, such that it will continue to haunt the institution for years to come. Finally, like the case of Ustaz Mohammed, Gana’s men who were loyal to him to the end, who turned back from the point of his capture at Yandev, and who walked away from the amnesty awaiting them in Makurdi that Tuesday, September 8, are not likely to go home with their tails between their legs. If the history and mentality of armed gangs is anything to go by, they are most likely to regroup, reorganize under a new leader and avenge the killing of their hero. The military must be very much aware of this possibility, but probably wanted to create another theatre of action like the Northeastern Nigeria.

Ola Peter writes from Abuja