- …establishes Whistleblowing desk
The Government of Cross River State has placed a reward of five million naira (N5m) on anyone with information that can lead to the arrest of the kidnappers of Prof. Ekanem Ephraim, a Neurologist with the University of Calabar Teaching Hospital (UCTH), who was abducted from her residence on July 13, 2023.
In the last three months since Governor Bassey Otu was sworn in, there have been several cases of kidnappings, including that of Doctor Ephraim is still in the kidnappers’ den.
To work with the people to ensure the release of Ephraim and quell other criminal activities in the state, the government has established the Whistleblowing Desk, which is domiciled in the office of the State Security Adviser, Governor’s Office, Calabar.
In a phone interview with CONVERSEER on Thursday, Commander Patrick Odiong (Rtd), Special Adviser on Security (South) to the Governor said the Whistleblowing Desk is to reward and protect anyone with credible information that can lead to the release of Doctor Ephraim and the arrest of her kidnappers.
He said the reward for the release of Ephraim is N5m while other cases attract N1m reward.
“The Whistle Blowing Desk is for anyone who has credible information about the kidnappers of the medical doctor. The person will be rewarded and protected.
“The reward is N5m to anyone that will give us credible information that will lead to the release of the doctor and the arrest of the kidnappers.
“The N5m is the reward for the doctor only while other cases attract N1m,” Odion said.
He further stated that the Whistleblowing Desk is for security purposes only.
Whistleblowing is a strategy for combating crime, especially corruption and its practices.
“Whistleblowing is the only way to combat corruption in the country. Corruption cohabits and lobs every other institution”, Jeremiah Archibong, Managing Editor of CrossRiverWatch said during a town hall meeting on strengthening whistleblowing policy implementation organised by AFRICMIL, Policy Alert and others on July 27, 2023, in Calabar.
