A petition written against wanted kidnap kingpin Hamisu Bala Wadume prompted the police to go after him in that foiled arrest that led to the killing of three police officers, Daily Trust has learnt. Wadume and one Umaru, of a rival group, were said to have misunderstanding and were brought before the police in Jalingo. Wadume was granted bail, a development that was not pleasing to Umaru and the rival gang.

According to a source, the rival group therefore wrote a petition against the activities of Wadume, and it was sent to the police few weeks before a team of detectives from Force Headquarters came to arrest him.

Another source said Wadume who was well connected to some key politicians and some top security chiefs was said to have contributed huge amount of money to the political campaigns of some politicians of a popular political party.

This did not go down well with other politicians in another popular political party, and they later teamed up with the rival group to write the petition, the source added. But Wadume’s generosity, according another source, won him the hearts of highly placed people, including some security agents within and outside Taraba state, who used to leak information to him and shield him against arrest.