Dare Babalola
The Coalition for Whistleblowers Protection and Press Freedom (CWPPF) has accused the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) of targeting Katsina-based entrepreneur and whistleblower, Mubarak Bello, who exposed payroll fraud within the Katsina Police Command.
CWPPF, a coalition of more than 30 media and civil society organisations, in a statement made available to newsmen, called on the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, to provide immediate protection to Bello.
Bello is currently facing accusations of impersonation, unlawful possession of firearms and holding a forged police ID after he exposed a ghost workers’ scheme in the command.
He was arrested on 13 September after a night patrol intercepted his Toyota Corolla and alleged that they found a locally made rifle, live cartridges and a fake police identity card in his possession.
Reacting, the CWPPF linked the arrest to his role in exposing the scheme, warning that Bello’s life and that of his family are under “serious and imminent threat.”
“The Nigerian Police Force should conduct a prompt, thorough and diligent investigation into the alleged payroll fraud scheme, as well as the allegations against him,” the coalition wrote in a petition submitted to IGP Egbetokun, Attorney-General Lateef Fagbemi, and his counterpart in Katsina State.
The petition, signed by the Deputy Director, Journalism Programme at the Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), Busola Ajibola, on behalf of the coalition, was also submitted to the National Human Rights Commission and ICPC.
The coalition called on the IGP to ensure that the life of Bello and his family are secured pending when the issue is resolved.
The coalition added that the acknowledgement copies were received, explaining that “the copy meant for the Committee on Public Petitions is pending because the National Assembly is on recess.”
