BY DENNIS NYAM, MAKURDI – Benue State citizens are now living in palpable fear as a supposed operational unit of the security in the state, code named Operation Zenda, has completely turned a monster abandoning its core mandate.
The Operational unit, which was put together by the former Governor Gabriel Suswam, with the aim of flushing criminals that were incessantly terrorizing the state was made up of the military and Nigeria Police, with a military officer as the commander.
The unit then was adjudged by many as having delivered on its core mandate creditably.
When Governor Samuel Ortom took over the reign of the state in 2015, he maintained the unit, but with a slight change as the military pulled out and men of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence (NSCDC) were drafted in, with a police officer heading the unit.
With the new arrangement, however, Benue citizens are currently groaning over the operation of this unit that is currently headed by a former Chief Security Officer (CSO) to Governor Samuel Ortom, CSP Justine Gberindyer.
Gberindyer was removed as CSO from the Makurdi Government House under circumstances that are still unclear to members of the public. Investigation by our team has unraveled the fact that contrary to its core mandate of arresting and handing over suspects to the Criminal Investigation Department (CID) at the Police Command, Operation Zenda has established torture centres in Gboko and Makurdi in the name of detention centres.
The centre in Gboko is located opposite Kusaki College, near Yandev. A blue wall of a well-protected house where nobody dare go near, except on arrangement, is boldly marked, ‘DANGER ZONE. KEEP OFF.’
In Makurdi, the DANGER ZONE is located at the outskirt of the town, at Adaka near Governor Ortom’s Oracle farms.
The unit now handle even political and other civil issues where people arrested always tell stories of how brutal the “squad” headed by Gberindyer is.
Those who are unfortunate to have one case or the other to settle with the Gberindyer-led Operation Zenda have told stories of how dehumanised people are treated by the unit. They said once one is taken to the place, it is assumed that one is guilty and treated as such.
The unit is also alleged to be reaping millions of naira from illegal revenue collection by erecting illegal checkpoints on the roads. Youth are employed and given protection to collect revenue for them.
Investigation has revealed also that in order to give protection to the illegal checkpoint workers, in places where the checkpoints are erected, Operation Zenda roadblocks are mounted barely few metres away.
Such checkpoints include, amongst others, the one at Tyo-mu on Makurdi – Gboko road; the one at NKST Girgi in Vandeikya Local Government; checkpoints near Uturugh village and Howe, all on Aliade-Otukpo road; those at Ayua and Gbor in Katsina-Ala all on Katsina-Ala – Zaki Biam road and the one at the boundary point at Joor Tar in Ukum Local Government.
Already, Chairman of the Benue Internal Revenue Service (BIRS), Mr. Andrew Ayabam, has confirmed knowledge of the checkpoints but said they are all illegal and mounted by criminals to extort money from unsuspecting businessmen and women.
While our findings have indicated that the joint operational task force against illegal checkpoints in the state has been battling to dismantle the checkpoints, just recently, the Secretary of the Benue Internal Revenue Service (BIRS), Mr. Godwin Akor, was arrested and detained for days at the DANGER ZONE.
Akor as the Secretary of BIRS is responsible for appearing as principal witness against culprits arrested at illegal checkpoints since he was always in company of the task force on the roads.
Concerned citizens have variously expressed worry over the activities of Operation Zenda, with many wondering whether the unit is running a parallel Criminal Investigation Department (CID) of the Nigeria Police.
Tyavkase Keghku, a retired police officer, who narrated how he shaded tears when he set his eyes on one of his relations who went missing for almost a month, but was only discovered to have been under detention at one of the secret centres of Operation Zenda, expressed worry why a unit under the force, instead of handing over whoever is arrested to the CID for either further investigation or prosecution in court has resorted to torture and dehumanization of suspects.
