The governor made this clarification while testifying before the commission at the Government House, Lafia, saying “It is not true that I have ordered for the head of Baba Alakyo. I don’t know when he has become John the Baptist.” The governor maintained that the state government, through the efforts of some government officials, has facilitated the recovery of some arms used during the Alakyo village massacre and subsequently handled them to the police authorities.
On the allegation that the governor was asked to stand down the Alakyo operation on that fateful day in order to host the fetish priest for a peaceful dialogue, Al-Makura says, “It is not true that the former Chief Judge of the state, Justice Ahmed Ubangari, sent Senator Solomon Ewuga to asked me to defer the Alakyo operation to a later date because a meeting was scheduled with the priest.
“On that day I was in Owerri, the capital of Imo state, when my deputy called me around 6:00pm by which time the security operatives were already on their way to Alakyo village. And before I could react, the deputy governor called me again around 7:00pm to tell me that the security personnel were attacked.”
The governor denied holding a closed door meeting with the Ombatse group, but that he got to know the name of the group as well as its executives when there was a blockage of the federal highway at Nasarawa Eggon for several hours when he personally went to the scene to relieve commuters from the trap. Al-Makura also denied being a financier of the group’s activities as alleged by the group’s legal adviser, Barrister Zachariah Alu Maga.
The governor continued, “It is absolutely not correct that I gave them N1 million when they visited me at my private residence. However, when they honoured my invitation the following day after the road blockage, I gave them that money for their refreshment and transportation for honouring my invitation.”
Source: National Mirror
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