29th March, 2012
The police in Borno State, Northeast Nigeria have offered N1 million reward to any person that could give information that will help them capture kingpins of the Boko Haram sect who have amassed a cache of arms recently.
The ransom was placed on the Boko Haram sect members by the Borno Police Command in a statement issued by the Police Public Relations Officer, PPRO, Samuel Tizhe in Maiduguri, the state capital Wednesday.
According to Tizhe, “The Borno State Police Command wishes to call on all well-spirited members of the public that a handsome reward awaits anybody who has useful information that can lead to the arrest of hoodlums and other criminal elements terrorizing Borno State or recovery of arms and ammunition from such persons.”
The police said it would pay N500,000 for useful information that will lead to the arrest of criminals, another N500,000 for information leading to confiscation of weapons, while it promised to pay N1 million to anyone whose information leads to both the arrest of hoodlums and seizure of weapons. The Borno State Police Command in the statement urged the public to come forward with information that will lead to the arrest of hoodlums and criminal elements terrorizing Borno State.
The statement urged potential informants to tip off the Commissioner of Police in the state directly or by calling his cell phone number 07033101616.
The police assured informants of confidentiality and charged indigenes and residents to take the enthronement of peace and security in Borno State as their civic responsibility.
It is however unclear whether the announcement would help ease the fears of potential informants considering that some elements in the police force and security agencies are sympathetic to the cause of the Boko Haram.
Boko Haram sect has killed persons it accused of divulging information concerning its operations. Hundreds of people have also been killed by the sect in the northern part of Nigeria where the sect has carried out several bomb attacks and drive-by shootings. Policemen and their stations are also targets of attack by the terrorists.