The Rivers State Government has rejected and dismissed the Nigeria Police report on the convoy clash between the Governor and the Minister of Transport, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi saying the report was biased.
Recall that two days ago, the Rivers State Commissioner of Police in a statement said the convoy incident was a minor accident and that investigations did not know how the outrider and his bike were knocked down. He also said that the Governor was 400 meters away from the scene.
A statement from the office of the State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Emma Okah said the police statement amounts to turning logic upside down.
Okah said 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, who he alleged is a bosom friend and hatchet man of the Minister of Transportation and the All Progressives Congress in the state.
The statement said: “from the totality of the statement of the Police in Rivers State, it is very obvious that plans and strategies have reached advanced stages to eliminate the Governor of Rivers State His Excellency Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, CON and the incident of last Sunday is a manifestation of the plans of the police”.
According to the Information boss, “it is wicked and wrong for the police to treat a state governor like a subordinate of a minister, more so when the police has been receiving tremendous logistics and financial support from the Rivers State Government. Not to recognize 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 was recently voted as the worst in the whole 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 SUV Black Lexus 750 Jeep, the convoy of the governor was 400 meters 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 Transport said that he was the one who intentionally knocked down the bike and the rider” he said.
The Governor’s convoy was a short one on that Sunday and the outrider who is the first part of the convoy was certainly not up to 60 meters 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 is confused as to who has the No. 1 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 has low regard for the government and people of Rivers State” the statement added, noting that this 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 is being clever by half as the attack on the Governor’s convoy by the Minister of Transport is not a minor accident, but a deliberate disregard for the law and office of the governor of Rivers State 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 a cause and an effect. There should be a party who is at fault. Even a traffic warden who raises his hand controls a traffic and he is obeyed by all. Is the Police saying that it is right for the Minister of Transport to knock down a policeman who stopped him? Why is the Police avoiding a preliminary finding of guilt against the Minister of Transport?
The Claim by the police that it will discipline officers found blameworthy in the ugly incident is the usual pattern and trick to shield SARS officers in the Minister’s bloated convoy and dismiss police officers in the convoy of the Governor and frighten those who may want to defend the governor in case of future attack. This has repeatedly happened in the past.
“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 Transport.
