The managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority, NPA, Mohammed Bello-Koko has raised the alarm over what he described as cheap blackmail by ‘desperate individuals’ who are planning to extort him.
Mr Bello-Koko in a statement at the weekend, noted that the individuals, having failed in their desperation to dent his integrity, have resorted to a campaign of calumny against his person and his family, but noted that they would fail in their bid.
He said: “In the past two years, in a desperate bid to defame and extort me, some faceless individuals under the cloak of unknown Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) have resorted to blackmail, using the instrumentality of a section of online media to push through their mischief and blackmail.
“Having failed in their desperation to dent or hurt my integrity, they have resorted to a very cruel campaign of calumny against my person and my family.
“Because they are faceless, I don’t have the opportunity to seek redress in court on the grounds of their rehashed and rehearsed lies.
“I need to reiterate that for all of my years as a banker and a public officer up till today, I have never been indicted or convicted by any court. And this fact is in the public domain.
“I’m also certain that my integrity as well as dedication and fidelity to the rules of public administration must have influenced the decision by the Federal Government of Nigeria to promote me from the rank of Executive Director (Finance and Administration) to Chief Executive Officer of the Nigeria Ports Authority.”
According to him, resorting to writing to the UK Government, seeking visa cancellation and forfeiture of assets belonging to my wife and I, is not only malicious but also cruel and wicked.
“I have yet to understand why these evil machinations would be orchestrated against me. Is the offence that I committed my acceptance and readiness to serve my country to the best of my ability?
“This latest attack, in the series of sponsored blackmails targeted at me, which began in 2021 immediately I was elevated from the position of Executive Director of Finance and Administration to the position of Managing Director of the NPA is intended to damage my reputation.
“Is there no limit to what vested interests can do in their desperate pursuit of power and influence?
“In deceit, they have disingenuously claimed in the sponsored report that UK/Ireland Investigators were the ones that had written to the UK government after they had purportedly unearthed alleged criminal acts against me, bordering on money laundering activities, fraud, forgery, and tax evasion, which are all baseless figments of their malicious intent.
“Whereas, particulars cited in the report were the regurgitated allegations that they had sponsored and which had been doing the rounds in the media from the outset, this latest attempt is as spurious as their first attempt ever.
“Their claim that UK/Ireland Investigators, and not Metropolitan Police or Scotland Yard, are investigating me falls flat on its face and gives out the sponsors of the report- which is a piece of cheap blackmail-as desperate hustlers who are not civil and neither working in the interest of the society.
“Is there no limit to what vested interests can do in their desperate pursuit of power and influence?
“In deceit, they have disingenuously claimed in the sponsored report that UK/Ireland Investigators were the ones that had written to the UK government after they had purportedly unearthed alleged criminal acts against me, bordering on money laundering activities, fraud, forgery, and tax evasion, which are all baseless figments of their malicious intent.
“Whereas, particulars cited in the report were the regurgitated allegations that they had sponsored and which had been doing the rounds in the media from the outset, this latest attempt is as spurious as their first attempt ever.
“Their claim that UK/Ireland Investigators, and not Metropolitan Police or Scotland Yard, are investigating me falls flat on its face and gives out the sponsors of the report- which is a piece of cheap blackmail-as desperate hustlers who are not civil and neither working in the interest of the society.
“It is unfortunate that some online news media have lent their platforms to these desperadoes to ply their odious trade. However, I challenge the conduit pipes of this malice to go ahead and mention the names and true identities of the CSOs and the investigators.
“If the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission had been on the matter as indicated in the report, it is then unfair to suggest or claim that some questionable UK/Ireland Investigators are now pushing for an exclusion order to ban me from ever entering the United Kingdom. One expects that there should be inter-agency collaboration in line with some bilateral or mutual agreements.
“All the supposed assertions and innuendos in the report are nothing but spurious and malicious concoctions intended to cause a predetermined damage.
“I had, on several occasions, stated that the NPA under my leadership is not aware of any secret foreign accounts and I could not have been a beneficiary of something that I am not aware of and, which I would like to emphasize is non – existent to the best of my knowledge.
“The UK property they mischievously mentioned was declared with the Code of Conduct Bureau (CCB) and purchased before I was appointed into public office. It is also important to note that the property was purchased on a 15-year mortgage payment plan.
“As NPA MD, I run an open administration that gives premium to due process in the execution of the agency’s core mandates.”
