Re: “SARS operatives responsible for series of kidnapping and armed robbery in Rivers State says Governor Wike”

The attention of INCRA has been drawn to the above titled release signed by the aide to the Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike on Electronic Media, Simeon Nwakaudu wherein several allegations were levelled against the Nigeria Police and the SARS Command in particular.
In the said release, Governor Wike accused the SARS operatives of kidnapping an unnamed man and taken him to an ATM machine where he was forced to withdraw 500,000 naira in order to secure his release. As a responsible organization, INCRA would want Governor Wike to provide the followings;
i) Name of the man allegedly abducted, Point of abduction and point of payment of the 500,000 ransom
ii) Aside the ATM machines in Government House,INCRA would love the Governor to state which other ATM machine pays up to 500,000 in the entire State in one day
iii) As a Governor who has access to Security and financial reports, in which bank’s ATM was the money withdrawn,in what denominations and in how many tranches?
iv) INCRA would also want to know what type of card the victim used in making such withdrawals.
For us, it is not enough for a sitting Governor to make wild unsubstantiated allegations .He should go further to prove what he has said by providing incontrovertible evidence to back it up
Consequently, we do not expect that the Governor would find any of these posers difficult to unravel after all, the office of the Governor can source whatever information it wishes to.
These posers became necessary as judging from past experiences, the Governor had said things without adducing evidence even after promising to. Of particular note was his promise last year, to release a certain CD detailing how the Police and the APC purportedly concluded arrangements to rig the December 10th,2016 Legislative re-run elections in the State.
Till this very moment, the Governor has been unable to keep to his own promise.
Also,not long ago, the same Governor Wike raised alarm that the Police High Command had withdrawn all his security details. His lie only came to fore a forthright ago when himself alongside the State Commissioner of Police, Zaki Ahmed decorated his(Wike’s) Police Chief Security Officer(CSO) with his new rank. One would then wonder how the Governor whose details were allegedly withdrawn ended up having a Police man as his CSO.
What is however very clear is that the Governor is only seeking to divert attention from his inefficiencies as the Governor of Rivers State. Only yesterday, one SARS operative was shot dead while in active service in Port Harcourt, instead of the Governor extending condolences to the Police and family of the personnel for that unfortunate incident, he is seeking to distract the Police from fishing out those who committed such heinous crime. In recent times, Rivers State has witnessed several incidences of crime with the Governor doing absolutely nothing to check the astronomical crime rate under his watch. If one views the Governor’s press release in context of what has been happening in Rivers State since yesterday wherein secessionist IPOB militiamen reportedly linked to his government unleashed mayhem on innocent Nigerians, one would understand that Wike only intends to distract the Security agencies from containing the security infractions committed by members of his private militia. It is on record that 48hrs after that mayhem, the Governor has not personally condemned the disturbance neither has his government issued any statement in that regard, whereas his counterpart in neighbouring Abia state had long declared a curfew to contain the incident.
It is on record that on Wednesday 6th September, 2017, a bus plying the Port Harcourt-Owerri Road was kidnapped around Isiokpo-Elele axis alongside the passengers, as the Chief Security Officer of the State,till this very moment, Governor Wike has not taken any action to rescue the victims from their captors. Governor Wike must understand that Rivers people are sick and tired of his road-side lies.
More so,it is worrisome that Governor Wike is yet to forgive Mr.Akin Fakorede, the Rivers State SARS Commander for frustrating his desire to rig the December 10th,2016 Legislative Elections in the State. Nigerians would remember that immediately after the elections, Wike unleashed a coordinated media onslaught on the Nigeria Police especially, the SARS operatives under the able leadership of Mr.Fakorede.
To the best of our knowledge and as can be attested to by many residents, Mr.Akin Fakorede is a professional policeman who has resisted all attempts at being compromised. The swiftness with which SARS operatives respond to distress calls is a testimony of the improvement in the command under his watch.
Suffice to also remind that there’s no security agency Governor Wike has not accused in the past. The Army, Navy, Air Force and the paramilitary agencies have at one point or the other come under Governor Wike’s flippant vituperations.
The logical conclusion from this new allegation against SARS operatives is that it fits into Governor Wike’s character as a petty liar who seizes every opportunity to tell cheap lies.
It is therefore on the strength of these that we urge Rivers people in particular and Nigerians in general to ignore Governor Wike’s wild and unsubstantiated allegations against a security outfit that is working very hard to stem the tide of insecurity. We further urge the public to cooperate with all security agencies in order to check the rising rate of crime and criminality in the State.
We call on Governor Wike to focus attention on providing governance, security for lives and properties than seeking a scapegoat for his own failures.