….Insists incident plot to assassinate governor
…Police commissioner dismisses claim of threat to life
From: TONY JOHN, Port Harcourt
The Rivers State Government has rejected the Nigeria Police report on the convoy attack of Governor Nyesom Wike, allegedly by the Minister of Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi.
Commissioner for Information and Communications, Emma Okah, on Wednesday, said that the report was a sad development for the Police “that has chosen to disgrace itself.”
According to Ohkah, “Two days ago, the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Zaki Ahmed, in a statement, 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 said that the Governor was 400 meters away from 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 further said 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, who is a bosom friend and hatchet man of the Minister of Transport and the APC.
He stated: “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 Okah, “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 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 why the Nigeria 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.
Okah further stated: “The governor’s convoy was a short one on that Saturday, 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 were 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 Information Commissioner noted that the convoy attack case was 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
Okah asserted that the Police were being clever, as the attack on the Governor’s convoy by the Minister of Transportation was not a minor accident, but a deliberate disregard for the law and office of the governor of Rivers State.
“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 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 claims 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 the owner of SARS?
“Why has the Commissioner of Police continued to look the other way despite repeated complaints against a younger officer Mr. Akin 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.
“It is sad that in our (country) Nigeria, a serving Minister will deliberately attack a Governor’s convoy, knock down an outrider who had merely asked him to stop for the convoy of the Governor to pass and the police sees nothing wrong,” he expressed.
Meanwhile, the state Police Commissioner, Zaki Ahmed, had dismissed any threat of life to any dignitary, describing the incident as coincidence.
Ahmed, in his press statement, said: “I am aware that some altercations did occur around the scene of the incident. I wish to stress here that the lives of the two dignitaries were not threatened as a result of this minor traffic incident.
“It is of note that, the meeting of the two convoys at that point was coincidental and has no semblance of threat to life or intention to eliminate any person.
“I want to make this abundantly clear that all acts touching on misconduct by any Policemen in the course of this incident will be thoroughly Investigated and appropriate disciplinary action taken against any person found wanting”, the police boss stated.