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The Federal Government has arraigned a former governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam, before a court in Abuja, the nation’s capital.
Suswam was arraigned in court on Friday on three counts of illegal possession of firearms.
He was arraigned two weeks after the Department of State Services (DSS) arrested him allegedly over security issues in Benue.
An aide to the former governor, who confirmed the arrest to Channels Television, had claimed that the arrest was consequent to a petition by the Benue State Governor, Mr Samuel Ortom.
But the state government issued a statement through the governor’s Chief Press Secretary, Mr Terver Akase, to counter the claims.
“We wish to categorically state that Benue State Governor, Samuel Ortom, did not write a petition which led to the arrest of former governor of the state, Gabriel Suswam,” the statement had read.
In February 2017, the DSS said it arrested Suswam after its operatives uncovered a large cache of arms and ammunition from a property allegedly linked to the former governor in Abuja.
The agency had disclosed in a statement that the arrest followed a tip-off that some incriminating items were stashed in the boots of cars parked at the property.
Items recovered by the security operatives during the raid included a glock pistol with two magazines and a total of 29 rounds of ammunition; a mini-uzi with two magazines containing 10 rounds and four rounds respectively; 42 extra rounds of ammunition contained in a pack, and one Ak-47.
