Lawyer blames Ortom for Suswam's detention by DSS

An Abuja-based legal practitioner, Barr Ig­batule Dugwer, on Mon­day blamed Governor Samuel Ortom of Benue State over the detention of his immediate pre­decessor, Mr Gabriel Suswam by the Department of State Ser­vices, DSS.

Suswam, who is currently standing trial at the Federal High Court in Abuja, was on February 25 arrested and has since been under the custody of the DSS.

In a statement released on Monday, Dugwer said, “It is no longer news that the for­mer Governor of Benue State, Gabriel Suswam, has been de­tained by the DSS upon the active instigation of Governor Samuel Ortom on allegation of illegal possession of arms since February 25 2017 till date”, Dugwer claimed.

He stated that Suswam’s pre­dicament was due to the gover­nor’s vow to ensure that the ex-governor remains behind bars until local council elections are concluded in Benue State in June 2017.

However, he said “What is news is the desperation he is showing in his recent attempts to keep Suswam perpetually in detention”, the legal practitio­ner said.

He said the governor is dis­turbed by his dwindling popu­larity and that of the APC gov­ernment in the state.

“He is also disturbed that the party is set to lose woefully in a free and fair election at the forth coming local govern­ment elections in June 2017, and is out to strangulate every perceived opposition before the local government elections”, the statement said.-The Authority