Gana's days are numbered - OPWS Commander

“Any time he steps his foot on that area, that would be his end. For us, all we know is that Gana’s days are already numbered.”

Rose Ejembi, Makurdi

Force Commander of military Operation Whirl Stroke (OPWS) Maj. Gen. Adeyemi Yekini has insisted that the days of notorious Benue militia leader Terwase Akwaza (alias ‘Gana’) are numbered.

Gana has been on the wanted list of the Nigerian Police since 2017 after he was fingered in the gruesome murder of the Senior Special Assistant to Governor Samuel Ortom on Special Security, Denen Igbana.

Read also: Benue militia leader’s kinsmen give Ortom greenlight to arrest him

Speaking with newsmen in Makurdi on Tuesday, the OPWS boss, who is in charge of the military operation in Benue, Taraba and Nasarawa states, said that his troops have largely decimated the activities of the wanted militia leader to a point that if he attempts to come of hiding he would be apprehended, dead or alive.

“As far as I’m concerned, we have crushed Gana even though we have not got him physically; but we have substantially got so many of his militia men and we have destroyed all his camps, recovered so many weapons from him and even arrested his spiritual leader,” Commander Yekini said.

“So, any time he steps his foot on that area, that would be his end. For us, all we know is that Gana’s days are already numbered.”

Asked why it had been difficult for security operatives to nab Gana for almost two years now, Yekini said the major reason was because his people were, before now, either not willing to give information about his whereabouts or were always giving him information about how close security were on to him.

“It is not that Gana is so invisible, but what happened is that initially, and before this last operation we did, people of Katsina-Ala area were not too willing to come forward to give information about Gana and his men.

“That had been the reason why it has been difficult for security forces to arrest him because all the people living there are one ethnic group and how to get information is really difficult, especially in a remote area like Katsina-Ala and a monolithic environment where eventually everybody speaks one language.

“These people have networks and they operate from areas where there are no network services. But this last operation we did, we destroyed all their networks, arrested and killed some of his men and even those who tried to escape were traced and arrested.

“So with this situation on ground, and now that Operation Whirl Stroke has been stationed in that axis, anytime Gana resurfaces in that area, that would mark his end.

“Now, the people of Katsina-Ala are willing to share information that would lead to Gana’s arrest. For now they are rumoring that he had fled the area and had gone to Cameroon.”

Yekini further disclosed that Gana’s closest ally was trailed to Zaria in Kaduna State and arrested, adding that efforts are currently on top gear to move him back to Benue State where he would be made to face the law.