The Benue State House of Assembly has constituted an Ad Hoc Committee to investigate allegations of criminal activities and financial misconduct leveled against the Chairman of Ado Local Government Area, Hon. Sunday Oche.
The committee, chaired by Hon. Mrs. Beckie Orpin, member representing Gboko East State Constituency, is tasked with carrying out its assignment and reporting back to the House within two weeks.
The decision was made during the House’s Wednesday Plenary, held at the Hearing Hall, Benue State House of Assembly, Makurdi, when the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Lami Danladi, moved a motion of public importance calling for the investigation.
The Deputy Speaker alleged that Hon. Oche had established criminal gangs that were terrorizing the area and diverting revenue. She stated, “The Chairman of Ado Local Government Area, who is supposed to be the Chief Security officer, has become the Chief oppressor.”
Hon. Danladi further revealed that the Chairman had set up an illegal special team with a detention cell in a forest in Ubioge village, where abductors and kidnap victims were kept until ransom was paid. She added that victims who refused to pay ransom were tortured, raped, and inflicted with severe injuries, resulting in deaths.
The Deputy Speaker also alleged that the Chairman had instructed major network providers in the Local Government to pay revenue into his private account. She urged the House to call for the immediate suspension of Hon. Oche from office for six months to pave the way for a thorough investigation.
Supporting the motion, the Majority Chief Whip, Hon. Peter Ipusu, demanded that the Chairman be given a fair hearing. The Speaker, Hon. Aondona Dajoh, agreed with his colleagues and gave the committee, led by Hon. Beckie Orpin, two weeks to investigate the allegations and report back to the House.
In a chat with newsmen, the Deputy Speaker, Hon. Lami Danladi, stated that the criminal gangs established by the Ado Chairman had kidnapped a lady and demanded a huge ransom. She alleged that the gangs had maltreated the lady, raping and inflicting injuries on her body, and that the Chairman had issued identification cards to the gang members. She vowed to ensure justice for the lady and other people in her constituency affected by the criminal activities of the gangs.
