The Rivers State Government on Wednesday rejected the
Nigeria Police report on the clash of the convoys of the state Governor, Nyesom
Wike, and the Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Amaechi, saying the “biased
report is a sad development for the police force that have chosen to disgrace
themselves.”
The state Commissioner for Information and
Communications, Mr. Emma Okah, in a statement issued in Port Harcourt noted that the state Commissioner of Police, Zaki Ahmed, had in a statement
issued two days ago, said the convoy incident was a minor accident and that
investigations did not show how the outrider and his bike were knocked down,
even though the man is alive and in his custody.
He also noted that the police commissioner said the
governor was 400 metres away from the crime scene but admitted that the governor’s
CSO queried a lot of SARS officers who were around the scene.
“This is turning logic upside down,” Okah said,
adding that the police did not investigate the matter but acted a script
written for it by the Commander of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), Mr
Akin Fakorede, whom he described as a “bosom friend and hatchet man of the
Minister of Transportation and the APC.
“From the totality of the statement of the state Police,
it is very obvious that plans and strategies have reached advanced stages to
eliminate the state Governor, Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, and the incident of last
Saturday is a manifestation of the plans of the police,” Okah said.
According to the commissioner, “It is wicked and
wrong for the police to treat a state governor like a subordinate of a
minister, more so when the police have been receiving tremendous logistics and
financial support from the Rivers State Government. Not to recognise the
priority of the governor’s convoy over any other convoy in the state except
those allowed by law is a national embarrassment. Could this be the reason why
the Nigerian police were recently voted as the worst in the world?
“It is deliberate falsehood for the police to say that
at the time the outrider got to Nkpogu Junction and intercepted the minister’s black
Lexus 750 SUV, the convoy of the governor was 400 metres away. It is even more
satanic for the same police to say that they did not know how the outrider fell
from his bike when everybody, including the Minister of Transportation, said
that he was the one who intentionally knocked down the bike and the rider.”
Okah explained: “The governor’s convoy was a short
one on that day and the outrider who is the first part of the convoy was
certainly not up to 60 metres away from the governor. If the police was in doubt as to who knocked
down the outrider, why did they not ask the rider who they have since detained
and are planning to dismiss from service for doing his job?
“It further mangles logic that the police are confused
as to who has the priority convoy right in the state. Is the office of minister
above that of the governor of a state in Nigeria? It is wrong for the police to
accord priority to the convoy of a minister over and above that of the state governor,
confirming accusations that the police have low regard for the government and
people of the state.”
He said the convoy attack case is a litmus test for
the image of the police which has been badly battered.
“When a police high command indulges in deliberate
falsehood and closes its eyes to the truth, the people cannot trust it and the
result is an express invitation to anarchy as the police is doing in Rivers
State” the statement added, asserting that the police are being clever by half
as the attack on the governor’s convoy by the Minister of Transportation is not
a minor accident, but a deliberate disregard for the law and office of the state
governor, and if you like, it is a rehearsal of the plot to eliminate the governor
in connivance with the police.
“Even if it was an accident, there should be a
cause and an effect. There should be a party who is at fault. Even a traffic
warden who raises his hand to control a traffic is obeyed by all. Are the police
saying that it is right for the Minister of Transportation to knock down a policeman
who stopped him? Why are the police avoiding a preliminary finding of guilt
against the Minister?” He queried.
Okah said the claim by the police that they would
discipline officers found blameworthy in the ugly incident was the usual
pattern and trick to shield SARS officers in the minister’s convoy and dismiss
police officers in the convoy of the governor and frighten those who might want
to defend the governor in case of future attack.
“While we agree that disciplinary action should be
for erring officers, can the Commissioner of Police tell Nigerians why he had
refused to explain the presence of about 50 men of the SARS and their commander
at the crime scene? Is the Minister of Transportation the owner of SARS? Why
has the Commissioner of Police continued to look the other way despite repeated
complaints against a younger officer, Fakorede, and the SARS he commands? If
anybody is to face disciplinary action, it is the Commander and men of the
Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) who gave the minister the courage to
violate the convoy of the Governor and knock down his outrider,” he said.
No comments:
Post a Comment