The Nigeria Police Force, on Tuesday, called on the wanted British national, Andrew Wynne, to come out of his hiding and surrender to the police.

This is as the police refuted the claim by Wynne that no invitation was extended to him before declaring him wanted.

The police had declared Wynne and his Nigerian collaborator, Lucky Obiyan, wanted for allegedly plotting to overthrow President Bola Tinubu’s administration and placed a N20m bounty on them.

However, Wynne had on Monday, while featuring on Channels Television’s Politics Today, also said he was not aware he had been labelled a fugitive.

Addressing journalists in Abuja on Tuesday, Force spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, said Wynne was contacted many times and he refused to show up even after his workshop was invaded.

He said, “He (Wynne) has been contacted several times. He has been so faceless. We went to invade that bookshop. As he asked questions, he came out. If you have a genuine business, are you not going to ask the police what we went to do in his shop or his office?

“Up till now, he has not shown up. We have been able to trace his private school. We visited his school; has he shown up? We have interrogated staff and people working with him. Has he shown up? So where is he and why is he hiding and speaking from hiding that he has no case to answer?

“As I said, it is not a subject of debate or argument. We have done what we should as a responsible security institution.”

Adejobi insisted that some offences had been established against Wynne, adding that his accomplices had been arraigned in court.

The force spokesperson dared Wynne to come out of hiding and face the wrath of the law like his accomplices.

He said, “We have established an offence or offences against him, and we have even declared him wanted. His accomplices have been charged in court.

“Let him come out. At least those people worked for him. As a good leader, as a businessman, as a smart man who mobilised and organised sleeper cells to cause problems in Nigeria.

“He should have come out as a good leader. So let him prove to his followers that he is a good leader. Let him come and meet us.”

Adejobi said the Zoom interrogation suggested by Wynne would not be accepted by the police based on the gravity of the allegations preferred against him.

He said, “We have questions to ask him. This is a guy who has been travelling out of Nigeria frequently. Why is it difficult for him to come down? Who is going to take a Zoom meeting for a suspect in this kind of offence? No.

“Let him come. I am still calling him again. Let him come. Suppose he’s a good man. If he is a genuine businessman in Nigeria, let Andrew Wynne report to the police so that he can come and clear some grey areas.”

PUNCH