IGP Kayode Egbetokun
A 46-year-old man Adam Tabare has been abducted by suspected hired killers in the Sapele Road axis of Benin City.
According to the police’s first information report, Tabare was taken away by the same persons who had earlier contacted him for an undisclosed ‘job’ to an unknown destination.
Sources close to the family hinted that Tabara, a professional whistle-blower and police informant may have gotten it wrong this time around with his trade as he was alleged to have been lured out of his home to seal an undisclosed deal in a matter connecting high-level importers of contraband goods into the country.
Tabare the source further said has been working collaboratively with the relevant government agencies to check illegal imports to the country and had earned a living by it.
Although it’s the expectation of all that Tabare would return alive, his situation draws parallels with incidences of blowing off the lid in fraud allegations in the banking sector particularly money laundry involving top government and business leaders in Nigeria.
The hazards associated with the business of whistle blowing in Nigeria analysts have caused many persons at home or abroad to be ware of those they share information on corrupt practices in government institutions with because many have died on account of trying to share important information that would lead to the recovery of stolen funds for the betterment of the citizens.
Whistleblowers provide the right information to the right people. Lawful whistleblowing occurs when an individual provides information that they reasonably believe evidences wrongdoing to an authorized recipient.
Because society perceive often wrongly whistleblowers’ Intention, there’s often time a backlash, sometimes with negative consequences for the whistle blower for disclosing sensitive info either as an organizational member or former of illegal, immoral, or illegitimate practices under the control of their employers, to persons or organizations that may be able to effect action.
Though the law is protective of the whistle-blower in Nigeria, the pervasive mistrust and exacerbated occult affinities that define the loyalty of the average Nigerian security personnel, leave the whistle-blower unprotected and exposed to the evil machinations of those being exposed who most of the time go to the extreme to seek vengeance.
It is little wonder that a multi-million naira bounty placed on the head of a gang leader in the South-South has led to the death of three persons believed to have shared information that led to his killing by the police.
Stakeholders believe that armed gangs target informants who may have been very useful in giving Police information that led to the elimination of criminal elements and restoration of peace in troubled communities by the law enforcement agencies.
Some of the informants have paid the supreme prize having been murdered by the criminal gangs against whom they shared information, and the bounty isn’t paid often by senior government officials of place them thus confirming the risk involved in the business of whistle-blowing in Nigeria.
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