You would be N5 million richer if you could provide information that would lead to the arrest of Tom Ateke, leader of the Niger Delta Vigilante.
The military task force in Rivers State placed the sum on his head on Tuesday, in the bid to stem the violence in the region where the government accuses him of being a clear and present danger of multiple proportions.
The military authorities had earlier declared him wanted. There are signs that, unlike before, the task force has an order to apprehend him from his Okrika base in the state.
He has fled in the face of the renewed vigour.
Last Tuesday, the task force invaded the Ochiri base and the �evil forest,� both of which were secured by Ateke.
But it was unable to get him in an operation that dragged on till last Saturday.
Military sources confirmed that his second in command was killed in the fierce fighting with soldiers on the island.
Ateke himself confirmed that nine of his lieutenants were killed and eight arrested.
There are fears among his fighters that he may have been wounded.
However, a defiant Ateke reportedly told his associates that he would fight back “at the right time,” with a lament that the soldiers carted away many of his properties.
A statement credited to the commander of the task force, Brigadier-General A. Salihu, alerted the public on the escape of Ateke.
It appealed to health institutions to report to the task force any indigene of Okrika who shows up for medical treatment.
The statement released on Tuesday reads in part: “JTF operating in Rivers State wishes to alert the public, doctors, nurses, herbalists and all persons with medical knowledge that Ateke Tom, also known as the �godfather,� is wanted by the task force in connection with various breaches of internal security, including murder, armed robbery and illegal oil bunkering.”
This is the first serious attempt by the government to apprehend him. There have been reports that top government officials shield him from arrest ahead the 2007 polls.
In Abuja, a deeply concerned House of Representatives Deputy Speaker, Austin Opara, cautioned youths of Niger Delta against using violent tactics to pursue a legitimate agitation in the region.
He spoke when members of Rivers State Students Association (RSSA) visited him at work.
Opara counselled that dialogue remains the best option to seek redress for the criminal neglect of the Niger Delta, not the resort to unproductive militia tactics.
His words: “We believe that the region has been criminally deprived of its legitimate due in the country. But the tactics adopted in the clamour for redress by the youth in recent times is not what we bargained it to be. It has been hijacked.
“All these kidnapping of oil workers and other negative vices paint the region in a bad light. They give it a bad image.
“We are all youths of the region. Cultism cannot help the matter, nor will the kidnapping of foreign nationals in the quest to turn things around for the people.
“We can rather use dialogue as a legitimate and acceptable means to convince the multinationals and the government that Niger Delta needs additional attention arising from decades of neglect.”
RSSA President, Kadilo Kabari, urged him to declare for the governorship of Rivers State.
But Opara cautioned that it is premature for students to delve into politics, a business that should be left for politicians.