Suswam as victim of political vendetta

 

The brutal murder of Terkura Suswam, the elder brother to Senator Torwua Gabriel Suswam, has sent shock waves reverberating throughout the length and breadth of Benue state and the entire world, as many wondered what lies ahead of him and the family. From what has happened is seems nobody is safe from Zone A political axis and even beyond coming on the heels of a total breakdown of law and order which erupted after the killing of a notorious bandit, Donald Agwaza aka Ghana by soldiers at the behest of yet to be ascertained persons in high places.

With the killing of Ghana, it was as if hell was let loose in Senator Suswam’s senatorial zone as the late bandit’s associates have gone on a rampaging spree looting, maiming, killing, burning and kidnapping any personality involved in the act. As it is all the traditional title holders have deserted the zone in safety of their lives while taking refuge in makurdi and Abuja.  Ghana,s men  believed without coherent evidence that Senator Suswam was responsible for the death of their warlord when in actual fact, it was the senator that spearheaded a peace and reconciliation process that would have involved the granting of amnesty to Ghana and his associates by the state and federal authorities in order to bring lasting solutions to peace in the zone. However, the killing of Ghana by Nigerian army soldiers has truncated the peace process and thrown the zone into turbulence and anarchy which might lead to war, that is the last thing Senator Suswam would want for his beloved zone. From thorough investigations fingers are pointing at the top hierarchy of the Benue state government for having orchestrated the killing of Ghana in order to undermine the peace and reconciliation process put by Senator Suswam at odds and even in confrontation mode with the late Ghana’s associates in crime. It should not be forgotten so quickly that Governor Samuel Ortom has never forgiven Senator Suswam for denying him the PDP governorship ticket in favour of his political godson Terhemen Tarzoor leading to Ortom’s shock defection to the APC where he obtained the ticket and eventually won the state governorship elections defeating the PDP’s candidate Tarzoor by a landslide victory. For Governor Ortom, it was payback time to former Governor Suswam as he immediately submitted series of damning petitions to the EFCC concerning Suswam’s alleged embezzlement of Benue State funds including his non-remittance of money paid by Aliko Dangote for acquiring Benue state equity stake in Benue Cement Company Gboko (BCC) and also set a committee  to investigate  Suswam’s activities in spending the state funds which was headed by Justice Margaret Kpojime . All was to indict Suswam and nail him on the cross.

As a result of Governor Ortom’s orchestrated petitions against former Governor Suswam, the latter is facing several charges brought by the EFCC and as if those were not enough, the embattled Senator was also facing gunrunning and illegal arms possession charges brought by the DSS at the behest of an allegation against him, all in a bid to destroy his political career both within his senatorial zone and Benue state as a whole. The fact that Governor Ortom appointed the late Ghana in his cabinet as his Special Adviser on Security and later dismissed him for his alleged involvement in the killing of one professor, was a gross failure by the governor who wanted to cause trouble in Suswam,s zone because Ghana was incompetent and also had no official background to advise the governor in any way on security matters. In the first place senator Suswam never involved Ghana in his   government. To cut the story short Ghana was proceeding on a peaceful mission with several traditional rulers and leaders from Suswam  zone but was short-lived on the road which  further exposed the political chicanery and paucity of integrity and honour in the highest echelons  by the  Benue state government, because he would have known that killing Ghana in the name of granting him amnesty will bring more harm than good in the state.

It is clear that the ultimate aim of the circles around the Benue State Governor is to engender chaos, disorder and anarchy in Senator Suswam’s zone and the brutal murder of his senior brother by cohorts of the late Ghana is proof positive that the retrogressive shenanigans of the Benue state government is working according to his plan that he earlier wanted with his acolytes. To further compound the socio-economic woes of Senator Suswam’s embattled zone, Governor Samuel Ortom has banned the movement of motorcycle riders popularly known as “Okada” there, by quasi-military fiat even though okada is the main mode of transportation  and a crucial revenue earner for the teeming unemployed youths in the zone. Indeed the Benue state government is out on a vehement mission that is multi-pronged and multi-faceted, to destroy the political career and economic status of Senator Suswam and his family and teeming associates while also orchestrating chaos, anarchy, criminality and banditry within the zone.

As things stand, when Governor Ortom completes his term of office, he would go back to his relatively peaceful zone B’ and contest for senate, while leaving a beleaguered Senator Suswam at the mercy of the vengeful cohorts of the late Ghana who are out to avenge the death of their kingpin which they falsely claim was masterminded by Senator Suswam. With the brutal assassination of his elder brother, it is manifestly clear that only the Almighty God can deliver the embattled Suswam from the hands of his vengeful enemies who are out to exact their pound of flesh on him for not just cause. 

Tyowua writes from Abuja

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