•Ex-gov is being persecuted, says associate
As part of the ongoing probe of ex-Governor Gabriel Suswam, the Department of State Security Service (DSS) yesterday called in a former Accountant-General of Benue State, Joseph Kpaakpa for interrogation in continuation of its investigation of former governor Gabriel Suswam.
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Also invited for interrogation were two former Permanent Secretaries, Terna Iorkaan and Hinga Biem; former Accountant in the Office of the Secretary to the State Government, Mr. T. Agbam; and a serving member of the Benue State House of Assembly, Paul Biam.
They were quizzed on how security votes were disbursed by the ex-governor.
They were also grilled on the purchase of vehicles for Governor-elect, the Deputy Governor-elect and their wives; funds paid to political office holders for election monitoring; and funds allocated for House of Assembly retreat, according to a reliable source.
Suswam’s investigation is also to see if he has any link with wanted militia leader in the state, Terwaze Akwazza (a.k.a Gana) who is holding three local governments captive in Benue.
The local government areas are Logo, Katsina-Ala and Ukum.
All attempts to locate the militia leader have failed.
But security agencies are probing clues that Akwazza might have been heavily funded by some politicians in order to acquire sophisticated arms.
The embattled governor has however denied any link with the militia leader.
A source said: “We invited five top people from Benue State for interaction on the management of security funds during Suswam’s tenure and other curious expenses.
“This is part of the ongoing comprehensive probe of the wanted militia leader and his boys who have been terrorizing Benue State. We are determined to crack the militia.
“Our team will get to the sources of huge funds at the disposal of the militia leader and his ragtag boys.
“They have made useful statements to our team. They might face charges bordering on criminal conspiracy, misappropriation of funds, fraud and laundering of state funds.”
Suswam, who remains in custody, is protesting the invitation of the men.
One of his associates yesterday branded the treatment of the former governor as persecution. He faulted the new dimension to the probe. The associate who does not want to be named, said: “We condemn in strong terms the continuous persecution of the ex-governor because today (yesterday) the DSS invited his former Accountant-General on the same petition that he was invited by the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) in Enugu and was also invited by the police.
“It seems the DSS is now doing the work of EFCC. What is the business of DSS with financial crime if it is not persecution?”
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