By: OKEY NDIRIBE & KINGSLEY OMONOBI
ABUJA — 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.
Amaechi: Berates Police boss. Mbu: Amaechi is a dictator
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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