Reps wade into Amaechi, Rivers’ CP crisis

Amaechi: Berates Police boss. Mbu: Amaechi is a dictator

TO prevent breakdown of law and order in Rivers State, following the row between Governor Rotimi Amaechi and the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Joseph Mbu, the House of Representatives, yesterday, passed a resolution to address the situation.The resolution was adopted based on a motion by Mr. Peter Edeh (ANPP, Ezza North/Ishielu).
Deputy Speaker of the House, Mr. Emeka Ihedioha, who presided, directed the House Committees on Police Affairs and Justice to liaise with the office of the Inspector-General of Police, the Police Service Commission and the Rivers State Government to fashion out ways of improving working relations between the Rivers State Police Command and the Rivers State Government and report back to the House within one week.
This came as the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, said he did not have any petition from Amaechi against the Commissioner of Police, while Rivers State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Worgu Boms, advised Mbu to act within the law.
During his presentation at the plenary session, Edeh pointed out that in recent times, the media had consistently reported a break-down in the working relationship between Amaechi and Mbu.

He said: “The situation has so deteriorated to the level of the governor accusing the Commissioner of Police of deliberately undermining security of the lives and property of the people of Rivers State.
“The commissioner in turn accused the governor of being a power-hungry dictator, statements which confirm that their working relationship had broken down irretrievably.”
The lawmaker further noted that the Inspector-General of Police had thus far refrained from addressing the matter or commenting on it publicly.
Edeh further stated that the existing situation in Rivers State was not only untenable but constituted a grave danger to peace, security and orderliness in the state and if left unchecked, would not only constitute a bad precedence, but could lead to a total break-down of law and order and threaten democratic institutions in the state and beyond.
He reminded his colleagues that section 14 (l)b of the Constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria 1999 (as amended) clearly states that the security and welfare of the people shall be the primary purpose of government.
I don’t have Amaechi’s petition — IG
However, the IG yesterday dismissed allegations that Governor Amaechi had written him a letter requesting the redeployment of Mbu to another state.
The IG made the disclosure just as a senior police officer told Vanguard that no governor had the right to stampede the Police High Command to do his bidding on issues of security, posting and redeployment of commissioners.
The IG, who spoke shortly after presenting awards to deserving police officers of the Force Criminal Investigations Department, FCID, reacted to reporters’ questions regarding the widely publicised mistrust and strained relations between Amaechi and Mbu, stressing that he had not received any petition or letter as regards the conduct of his officer.
However, shedding more light on the development, a senior officer said: “The IGP in conjunction with the Police Service Commission vets and promotes CPs to State Commands.
“The IG, who is the operational head of the Police Force does not need to be dictated to as to who to post to a particular command or redeployed. So this whole hullabaloo about security breaches and security risk is just extreme.”
On the award for deserving officers, the IGP disclosed that FCID was being repositioned to take the lead in crime investigation in the country.
He told newsmen, after the presentation of award to eight officers, that “the FCID is supposed to be the apex in terms of investigation of cases and we are doing everything possible to ensure that they take the pride of place.”
Mbu urged to act within law
Meanwhile, Rivers State Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Mr. Worgu Boms, yesterday, advised Mbu to discharge his responsibilities within the precepts of law and not allow himself to be used by political forces against the state and Governor Amaechi.
Speaking in Port Harcourt, yesterday, he bemoaned Mbu’s utterances and conduct, which he said could lead to anarchy and decried his ban on street processions.
Boms said the Police Commissioner had no legal power to ban protests, explaining that the Public Order Act authorises only the state governor to grant permission for any street procession.
He said: “The Commissioner of Police is a Commissioner of Police and not a lawmaker or a law interpreter, functions that statutorily and constitutionally belong to the parliament and the judiciary, respectively.
“The Commissioner of Police is only a law enforcer and no more. Yet, being neither a lawmaker nor a law interpreter, he (Mbu) has continued to act in both capacities through his speeches and conduct.
“All of these have combined to signpost a preference for anarchy in place of observance and maintenance of law and order for which the Police are established and for which he was employed.”

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