A whistleblower, who identified himself as Bello Mustapha Echiomuha, has urged the Rivers Governor Nyesom Wike, to redeem a N20m bounty he placed on each of the 34 suspected notorious criminals during his recent broadcast.
Echiomuha, who spoke in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State, said he exposed the hideout of one Tompolo, a notorious leader of a deadly cult group, the Greenlanders.
It was gathered that Tompolo, a native of Obuboru in Ogba-Egbema-Ndoni Local Government Area, was the number 5th in the list of wanted cultists released by Wike.
Echiomuha said he went into hiding after he facilitated the arrest of Tompolo following threats by members of the cult group and a relation of Tompolo to kill him.
He lamented that efforts to get the bounty promised by Wike proved abortive because the police and other security agents he worked with to arrest the suspect stopped picking his telephone calls.
Narrating his story, he said: “My story is all about how I risked my life to save the lives of many innocent souls in Agudama community in Bayelsa State.
“On the 24 September, 2018, I reported a case of a notorious criminal and member of the Greenlanders cult, a.k.a Tompolo.
“Tompolo, a native of Obuboru in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State, fled Rivers State early last January immediately after he was declared wanted by Governor Wike on live broadcast following the death of Don Wanny.
“I took the bull by the horn by exposing the hideout of Tompolo to the Bayelsa State police command and the arrest was made by Mr. Ondo Gbekumo, who is now retired.
“Gbekumo coordinated a four-man team in mufti, who rode on a tinted Mazda car to storm the residence of the wanted cultist.
“After investigations and the suspect confirmed his involvement in sundry criminal activities, he was later transferred to the anti-cultism unit of the Rivers State police command under the supervision of Mr Ahijo Lawson, who concluded investigation into the cult activities of the suspect in Rivers State and also his involvement in the killing of two F-SARS personnel and setting their vehicle on fire at Omoku in Rivers state.
“All my efforts to reach the immediate past Rivers State Commissioner of police, Mr Zaki Ahmed, proved abortive as he neither picked our call nor granted us audience whenever we paid him a visit at his office in Port Harcourt.
“I exposed Tompolo to save the lives of many in that community, who did not know the true identity of the intruder and how dangerous he was to that community.
“Furthermore, in course of my selfless and patriotic service to humanity with the belief that the security of life and property is a collective responsibility of all citizens, I have been suspended from the Npower programme where I was a beneficiary in Bayelsa state.
“This was as a result of my relocation to a safe place which has made me unavailable at my primary place of assignment in Bayelsa.
“This was largely due to the fear of any reprisal attack from these groups of bad elements in the society as they have finally position his younger brother who was arrested together with him on the 17th September, 2018 but was later granted bill, to watch out for me.
“Therefore, I am using this medium to appeal to Governor Wike to honour his word of paying a sum of N20million to any person, who could volunteer useful information to the arrest and prosecute any mentioned cultist on his live broadcast on the 9th January, 2018.
“This amount is not too big as a ransom for the lives of many that I saved and by so doing this will further tell the whole world that we are living in a country where good deeds are actually rewarded and crimes are not politicised.
“This will also give an opportunity to other patriotic Nigerians to assist the police to give vital information about dreaded criminals in the society”.
Though the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Bayelsa State, Butswat Asinim, could not be reached, a senior police officer, who spoke in confidence, said he was aware of the matter.
He said there was no doubt that Echiomuha provided information that led to the arrest of the suspect and advised the whistleblower to make contact with officials of the Rivers Government.
“They have been on this matter for about one year now. They should reach out to the Rivers State government to find out whether the money has been paid.
“If it had been paid, who collected it? It is also possible that the government has yet to pay the money,” he said.