The Nation Newspaper

Tag: whistle blower

  • Police parades 19 criminal suspects in Abia

    Police parades 19 criminal suspects in Abia

    …To pay N1m for whistle blower on Crimes

     

    The Abia state government says it will commence the payment of the sum of N1 million on any whistle blower who helps in giving information that would lead to solving heinous crimes in the state.

    Speaking with newsmen in Umuahia while parading nineteen suspected criminals, the Commissioner of Police (CP) Leye Oyebade said that the state security council meeting resolved to give that sum to any whistle blower on crimes.

    Oyebade said that the police need the required genuine information to enable them do their jobs better, stressing that criminals live within and around people so it is their responsibility to expose such persons for peace to reign in the state.

    He said, “The desire by the state government to give out that huge sum of money to those who are willing to expose criminals living in the state is one of the ways to encourage residents to aid the police in their work of preventing and combating crimes”.

    The Abia CP said that the command in collaboration with the state government will be establishing a new Rapid Tactical Squad which will under go training in the areas of arms handling and information gathering before they commence operation.

    Oyebade said, “After their training which will last for about three months, they will be well kitted and all the necessary logistics required for them to perform their duties will be provided for them”.

    “Their operational base would be situated at the state police headquarters and they will be expected to cover every part of the state and their duty would be mainly to respond to kidnap distress calls in collaboration with the Rapid Response Squad and other units in the command”.

    Parading the suspects, the CP said that his men following information made available to his men by Chief Emmanuel Agwu of 61 Amamba Housing Estate, Ubakala Umuahia that five armed men surged into his house and made away with his RX 350 Lexus SUV.

    The CP said that two people David Onyebuchi and Chidozie Nwachukwu were arrested, adding that Onyebuchi was called on phone by one of the hoodlums now at large through the complainants stolen phone, “On searching the phone log it led to the arrest of Nwachukwu”.

    Oyebade said that his men following reports of armed robbery made by Emmanuel Liberty of 49 Ibadan Street and Stanley Elechi of 14 Niger street Igbere off Ngwa Road all in Aba, “Two people Tochukwu Darlington Osigwe aka Ekeson Mba and Eberechukwu Azunna aka Jamaica were arrested”.

    He said that the suspects on two different days with others now at large robbed the complainants at gun point of their valuables which include sum money, thirty pairs of shoes, Tecno mobile phone, sum of forty eight thousand naira and torchlight.

    The Abia CP also paraded Charles Uzodinma for allegedly masterminding the kidnapping of Pa Jeremiah Adindu aged 90 years, the father of Godwin Adindu former Chief Press Secretary to Abia Governor.

    Oyebade said that Pa Adindu was rescued by the collaborative efforts of the police, youths, vigilante and hunters while combing the bush within the boundary between Obingwa and Osokwa in Osisioma council area of the state.

    He said, “On the same day responding to another distress call from Mgnoko Umunkpi, my men arrested Eze Uche aka Inspector of Umuada Nvosi, Chimka Nwogwugwu, Uzochukwu Nwogwugwu and Okechukwu Nwogwugwu all of Umuokoroma Nvosi Obingwa for being alleged kidnap suspects”.

    The CP used the occasion to give the achievements of the command in the last eight months, “The period under review 134 armed robbery suspects, 7 burglary, 29 child trafficking, 26 kidnappings, 18 car snatching”.

    “Others are 2 murder, 4 rapes, 24 cultists, 15 vandalization, 8 fraudsters, recovery of arms 32, ammunition 188, vehicles 40, motorcycles and tricycles 15 and kidnapped victims rescued 15”.

     

  • Presidency orders investigation on sack of whistle-blower

    Presidency orders investigation on sack of whistle-blower

    Foreign Affairs Minister Geoffrey Onyeama said on Friday that Mr Ntia Thompson, sacked by the Ministry over whistle blowing, would be reinstated, if actually his appointment was wrongfully terminated.

    Onyeama, who stated this in Abuja while fielding questions from newsmen on the issue, said that Vice-President Yemi Osinbajo had directed him to look into the matter.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) recalled that Thompson, an assistant director with the Directorate for Technical Cooperation in Africa (DTCA), was sacked for allegedly exposing a fraud in his office.

    Thompson was said to have been sacked for allegedly raising an alarm that $229,000 and N800, 000 had been diverted by key officials in DTCA, an agency under Foreign Affairs Ministry.

    Onyeama said he had a comprehensive report on that matter and steps would be taken to ensure that justice is done on all the issues that were raised.

    “I want to tell Nigerians that whistle blower protection is what we subscribed to wholeheartedly and completely in the ministry and it is government’s position and directive.

    “I personally assure you that throughout my tenure, I will do everything possible to protect whistle blower in the ministry.

    “Because the agenda of the government is a clear one that will embrace whistle blower,” he said

    He said that he was going to look at the report and keep the public informed about the outcome of his findings.

    According to him, if there is a slightest possibility that there could have been any action that was taken as a result of the person being a whistle blower, damages would be paid

    “I can give you a guarantee that damages would be paid and the person would be reinstated.

    “And, measure would be taken on this; as far as this ministry is concern justice would be done,” he pledged. (NAN)

  • Whistle-blower exposes N8.4b fake bank account

    Whistle-blower exposes N8.4b fake bank account

    Fed Govt seeks court’s nod to seize cash

    Telecoms firm claims money

    Who owns an account in which N8.4billion has been found?
    This is the puzzle that detectives are battling to resolve, following the discovery of the bank account which has no signatories.
    The huge deposit has been traced to a bank which is believed to have assisted the money launderers to convert the cash to dollars.
    There was suspicion last night that the cash may have been wired into some foreign accounts, but the government has filed an ex parte motion to place it under temporary assets forfeiture.
    A telecommunications company has gone to court, claiming ownership of the money, The Nation learnt.
    A whistle-blower alerted the government to strange deposits into the ECOBANK account by some suspected government officials.
    Of the many deposits, about N8.4billion was singled out for investigation in the interim.
    A source involved in the investigation said: “A whistle-blower alerted the Office of the Attorney-General of the Federation, leading to the involvement of the Nigerian Financial Intelligence Unit and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission( EFCC) in the investigation.
    “The probe of the account by detectives showed that the funds were routed through the account of a telecoms giant but there was no disclosure of the signatories to the account.
    “Also, the list of depositors into the account was unknown but the sequence of deposits was tracked by detectives.”
    The source confirmed that an ex -parte application had been filed at the Federal High Court 11 in Lagos, presided over by Justice Abdulazeez Anka, to recover the cash under temporary forfeiture.
    The matter is coming up on March 3 for hearing.
    The Federal Government has hired two lawyers, Mr. John Samuel Opeyemi and Mr. Oluwafemi O. Aweda, to recover the funds.
    Another source also privy to the investigation said the probe so far indicated that the cash paid into the account could be over N10billlion.
    The source added: “Detectives stumbled on separate deposit of N5billion and N4billion. But investigation is at present concentrated on the recovery of N8.4billion, which was changed to dollars and probably wired into some accounts abroad.
    “A telecommunications giant has approached the court to claim the ownership of the cash.
    “We have been demanding for the list of signatories to this account but it is yet to be provided.
    The Minister of Information, Alh. Lai Mohammed, on February 12 said the whistle-blower policy had started yielding fruits, with the recovery of US$151 million and N8billion.
    The Minister said: “The looted funds, which do not include the $9.2 million in cash allegedly owned by a former Group Managing Director of the NNPC (which was also a dividend of the whistle-blower policy), were recovered from just three sources through whistle-blowers who gave actionable information to the office of the Minister of Justice and Attorney-General of the Federation.
    “The biggest amount of $136,676,600.51 was recovered from an account in a commercial bank, where the money was kept under an apparently fake account name, followed by
    N7billion  and $15million from another person and  N1billion  from yet another.
    ‘’When we told Nigerians that there was a primitive and mindless looting of the national treasury under the last administration, some people called us liars.
    “Well, the whistle-blower policy is barely two months old and Nigerians have started feeling its impact, seeing how a few people squirrelled away public funds.
    “It is doubtful if any economy in the world will not feel the impact of such mind-boggling looting of the treasury as was experienced in Nigeria.
    ‘’Yet whatever has been recovered so far, including the $9.8million by the EFCC, is just a tip of the iceberg.”

  • Okon is whistle blower of the year

    Pity the ignorant and ignoramuses, for they shall not inherit the earth. As soon as government announced a five per cent incentive for successful whistle blowers, Okon has been on top of his game. The whole house has been invaded by the din of a million vuvuzelas. Remember the 2010 World Cup in South Africa?
    Every morning, the boy will begin blowing his whistle till day break. Passers-by believe that this is a weird new way of celebrating the festive season. But there is no way of killing Okon’s horn which resonates with a metal shrillness which could have come straight out of the Inca Empire after Cortes and co laid the siege that was to put an end to that civilization and its industrial scale human sacrifice.
    Since it was the holiday season and snooper’s final working year in a gruelling odyssey that started out at the age of fifteen with its Dickensian twists and turns, yours sincerely usually roll up in bed once the mad boy put the entire street on a trumpeting war-footing. It was only the half-crazed dustbin woman who put out a truly outlandish theory that this may be Okon’s signal to the Ijaw militants to come and deal with his master.
    “Oga no vex for early morning ooo, and no say my head no correct ooo, but dis dem Calabar boy and him Ogboju Ode fere, you no say dem police com capture ijaw boy who dey bear Yoruba name. Dis Okon sef, I been dey hope no be Ijaw boy wey dey bear Calabar name ooo?” the Ibadan woman chanted breathlessly.
    When this was put to the mad boy he laughed the idea to scorn, hooting as if he himself had become a giant vuvuzela. “Oga if I be Ijaw or dem Yoruba boy dem Buhari for don pay me my five per cent now. You see when flies dey chop madman nobody dey see until madman come they chop flies” the mad boy snorted.
    Unfortunately for the crazy boy, the only impact made by his whistleblowing was when two urchins were robbing a banker girl at Oshodi and he blew his whistle which distracted the petty thieves and made the girl to escape with her handbag. In rage, the boys approached Okon and beat him to a pulp. Okon came back home with his nose egregiously swollen like somebody who had carried some bee-infested firewood.
    Perhaps it was this that attracted the attention of a local television station which named him whistle blower of the year. On the day of the investiture and still nursing his wounds, Okon sauntered into the station with the drunken Baba Lekki in tow to provide technical assistance. Hostilities broke out immediately as Okon fastened his gaze on the ravishingly beautiful hostess.
    “Bia Charity, abi wetin be dat your Ibo name again, or abi na Chukwu sef, abi no be you I dey see for Ayilara Street?” the mad boy sniggered as the lady froze in embarrassment. But the lead host quickly took charge, having been briefed on Okon’s wayward antics.
    “Etubom Okon, congratulations on this important award”, the young man opened.
    “Make una no conbatulate Okon, just tell dem Buhari man make him pay my five per cent, becos if say I be Yoruba boy or Ijaw, him for don pay quick quick” the crazy boy snarled.
    “Omo ale”, one Lagosian sounding man spat from the crowd.
    “Stupid Yoruba man, you mama don blow whistle before?” Okon spat. The lead interviewer quickly moved in again. His second, a merry looking Yoruba boy with Samanja whiskers, quickly cut to the chase.
    “Mr Okon, how much did you lose in the m.m.m scheme, or am I asking a foolish question?” the fellow asked with merry warmness and sardonic humour. For a moment, Okon appeared completely flustered suspecting a set up as he eyed the chap with suspicion. Then he regained his composure.
    “Äh my broda, to tell una true true I put hundred thousand for dat one but na counterfeit currency I buy for twenty naira, so na jibiti man from Lagos come meet Ijamba man from Ilorin”, the crazy boy sneered to wild applause which roused Baba Lekki from his drunken stupor. The crazy old man began singing an ancient Yoruba ditty in honour of a celebrated swindler.
    Anikura gbowo Ijebu ofi gbewu etu wale
    Anikura yo’be Ijebu yo’bon
    “Okon what do you think about this Magu business?” somebody shouted from the crowd.
    “Ah you see…” Okon began expansively but it was at this point that somebody threw a Christmas cracker into the hall screaming “Ëgbesuuu!!” Everybody consulted their heels.