The Senator representing Benue Northeast in the Senate, Gabriel Suswam, has called for an investigation into the killing of Terwase Agwaza alias Gana.
Gana was killed on Tuesday by the military after a convoy conveying him and other gang members to Makurdi, Benue State capital, was intercepted.
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The military authorities said he was killed in a gun duel with soldiers.
But Benue State government said the outlaws had renounced a life of crime and were being brought for formal presentation to the state security council before the soldiers took them away.
Senator Suswam, in a statement he personally signed, said the claim that Gana was killed in a gunfight needs further explanation.
He said an independent judicial commission of inquiry will unravel facts of the matter to serve as lessons for the future.
He said even though he had been consistent in condemning the reign of terror Gana unleashed on his community, he could not “accept cold blooded extra judicial murder of an unarmed person as a solution to our security problems.”
He said, “The lessons of the Boko Haram escalation after a similar murder of its leader are still here with us. If this method is accepted as a norm in our country, there will be no need for laws and courts.
“We stand to benefit more by subjecting suspects to due process of the law. Information extracted from a living Gana would have helped security agents get to the root of activities of criminals.
“By this gestapo style execution, we have missed an opportunity to learn vital lessons about the structure of crime in the area.”
