by Azubuike Azikiwe

The Commissioner of Police, Rivers State Command, Dan Bature, has responded to Governor Rotimi Amaechi’s statement that the state police command was exposing the governorship candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, to assassination.

Amaechi had alleged that the security of Dakuku had been removed by the police.

However, Bature said the police had simply replaced the C4I operatives around Peterside with men of the Special Protection Unit.

He described the allegations as spurious and wispy, while stating 4 reasons why Amaechi is unhappy with the Police in the state:

 

1. “It is strongly believed that the vituperations are frustrating signs of the government’s inability to pressure the Command to release hardened criminals involved in heinous cases of murder, deadly cult activities, unlawful firearms possession, kidnappings and sundry acts of lawlessness that ordinarily would have been charged to court, but for the industrial action of the Rivers State Judiciary.”

 

 

2. “Redeployment of C4I Policemen from Hon. Dakuku Peterside to their traditional duties of fighting violent crimes and their immediate replacement with the elite Special Protection Unit has now been attributed to withdrawal of the policemen attached to him.”

 

 

3. “Cases of cultists-related clashes that sometime resulted in deaths have suddenly been attributed to killing of political party supporters. The alleged killing of seven supporters of a political party is not only unfounded as the Command has not received such report. What a mathematical wonder! Six suspects arrested and charged to court for unlawful possessions of firearms have now become over 400 supporters of a political party in our custody.

 

 

4. “The allegation of the purported plan to arrest 307 leaders of a political party is nothing but a ruse to whip up public sympathy. The Command has no plan to arbitrarily arrest anybody. Anyone who is not planning to cause or foster violence or breach public peace has no cause to fear or raise false alarm.”