A renowned gang leader in Benue State, Terwase Akwaza, popularly known as Ghana, has surrendered 84 guns to the state government, embracing the amnesty programme declared by the state government for residents of the state to surrender illegal weapons in their possession.
State Governor, Mr. Samuel Ortom, told journalists on Monday in Makurdi, the state capital, after the State Executive Council meeting.
Ortom, who announced that the amnesty window to surrender illegal weapons in the state had been extended to the end of September, said Akwaza had surrendered the illegally stockpiled weapons with him and had promised to desist from his violent activities in Benue and Taraba states communities.
The governor stated that the extension of the amnesty window became necessary following a plea by the gang leader that he needed time to persuade some of his friends in the underworld to also surrender their weapons.
Akwaza stated, however, that he became a militant leader to secure his community, adding that he had decided to genuinely embrace the calls by Ortom for people in the state, holding illegal weapons, to surrender them and embrace peace.
The Special Adviser to the Governor on Security, Col. Edwin Jando(retd.), disclosed that he received 135 assorted rifles and 770 rounds of ammunition from those who voluntarily surrendered their weapons with 84 rifles submitted by Akwaza.
The governor expressed appreciation to President Muhammadu Buhari; Taraba State Governor, Darius Ishaku; the Catholic Bishop of Katsina-Ala Diocese, Bishop Peter Adoboh, and others for their support for the amnesty programme.
According to him, it has become imperative to secure the state so that a conducive environment would be created to attract investors as well as boost the economic fortunes of the state.
Ortom explained that at the end of the extension of the programme, security agencies would go after those who were still in possession of illegal arms so as to put an end to crimes, including armed robbery, kidnapping and cultism in the state.
