… Says Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) attempting to sabotage Rivers lockdown
As residents of Rivers State observe the lockdown imposed on Port Harcourt City and Obio/Akpo Local Government Areas, the State Governor Nyesom Wike, has frowned at alleged attempts by the Police to sabotage the directives.
Wike said: “I want to commend Rivers people for the level of support they have shown. The level of compliance is quite satisfactory. It is more than 95 percent within the two Local Government Areas .
“It is unfortunate to see the level of sabotage that we get from the police. Particularly, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Operations, Rivers State Police Command.
“The Deputy Commissioner of Police will sign approvals for companies because he wants to collect money. I am the Governor of this state and there cannot be two governors.
“The Deputy Commissioner of Police has no powers to issue approvals when the State Government has locked down the state. After the State Security Council met and agreed on the lockdown, the Deputy Commissioner of Police went ahead to issue illegal letters to companies to operate. I have never seen that in my life.
“All these violators must be prosecuted at the mobile court set for this purpose. What we are doing is not for any particular individual, it is for the interest of the state.
“Our people are suffering, I agree. But this is something we must do. When we examine the level of compliance and it is reasonable, of course, we will unlock the two Local Government Areas.
“It is not in our own interest that people shouldn’t come out or go to the markets. But we are talking about lives and how to protect our people.
“Look at what is happening in other parts of the country, the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Operations wants us to suffer.
“I have called for an emergency security Council meeting by 3pm today. This is a complete sabotage by the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations), Rivers State Police Command. We will deal with that accordingly.
“I however, thank the Army, the Navy and others on what they are doing to enforce the lockdown.
“For the Deputy Commissioner of Police (Operations) to sabotage us, that will not be accepted. I arrested those people and he had the guts to tell them to release those I arrested on the road because he is collecting money from companies . That is unacceptable.
“The defaulters will be tried by the Mobile Courts and I have told the Attorney General, all the impounded vehicles must be auctioned. By tomorrow, the Honourable Attorney General would have advertised those vehicles and we will auction them.
“Some people don’t believe that Coronavirus is in existence. Until you make them understand that we are serious, they will not believe it. We will auction the impounded vehicles.
“Those arrested will face the wrath of the law. Nobody is above the law. We will not allow anyone to sabotage our efforts to protect our people”.
