Well I don't know how true this is, but report reaching us has it that ,The Police Service Commission has announced the removal of the controversial Commissioner of Police in Rivers State, Mr. Joseph Mbu and posted him to FCT as CP,he was re-deployed alongside twelve other police commissioners.
He is to be replaced by Mr. Johnson (Tunde) Ogunsakin.
Until his redeployment,,Ogunsakin was the CP in charge of the Special Fraud Investigations Unit in Lagos.
A statement issued by Mr. Ferdinand Ekpe in Abuja said the announcement will be with immediate effect.
The Chairman of the Commission, Sir Mike Mbama Okiro, equally admonished the newly redeployed officers to put in their best in their various Commands’ operations, so as to provide a secure environment for business and life to thrive.
Here is wishing Mr Joseph Mbu a wonderful stay in Abuja.
Showing posts with label Rivers state crisis. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Rivers state crisis. Show all posts
Thursday, February 6, 2014
Tuesday, February 4, 2014
Mbu bans political rallies in Rivers' State
THE Commissioner of Police for Rivers State, Mr. Joseph Mbu has, on Monday placed a ban on any form of political rally in the state.
He said the decision was based on the increasing political tension in the state,and the ban affects political rallies under any guise.
The State Police Command had before the outright ban on political rallies, directed that those holding rallies in the state should apply for police permission.
He also prohibited activities involving the Grassroots Development Initiative, Save Rivers Movement, and the Rivers Leadership Advancement Foundation.
“The Rivers State Police Command wishes to inform members of the public that as a result of increasing political tension in the state, the Commissioner of Police, Rivers State Police Command, has banned all political rallies in the State under whatever coloration or name.
“Accordingly, all public activities involving rallies of Grassroots Development Initiative, Save Rivers Movement , Rivers Leadership Advancement Foundation and whatever other names, are hereby banned,” a statement signed by the Command’s spokesman, Mr. Ahmad Mohammad read.
Mbu warned that the State Police Command would not provide security for any group that would henceforth organise rallies.
The state police commissioner, however, stated that party membership registration would only be allowed based on the provisions of the Electoral Act and regulations of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
According to the statement, “Rivers State Police Command will not; I repeat; will not provide security for any group in whatever guise.
“Party membership drive is allowed strictly as stipulated in Electoral Act 2010 as amended and INEC regulations, please.”
Reacting, the President of the Save Rivers Movement, Mr. Charles Ahorlu, said the police had no right to ban political rallies in the state.
Hmmmm....what do you think???
He said the decision was based on the increasing political tension in the state,and the ban affects political rallies under any guise.
The State Police Command had before the outright ban on political rallies, directed that those holding rallies in the state should apply for police permission.
He also prohibited activities involving the Grassroots Development Initiative, Save Rivers Movement, and the Rivers Leadership Advancement Foundation.
“The Rivers State Police Command wishes to inform members of the public that as a result of increasing political tension in the state, the Commissioner of Police, Rivers State Police Command, has banned all political rallies in the State under whatever coloration or name.
“Accordingly, all public activities involving rallies of Grassroots Development Initiative, Save Rivers Movement , Rivers Leadership Advancement Foundation and whatever other names, are hereby banned,” a statement signed by the Command’s spokesman, Mr. Ahmad Mohammad read.
Mbu warned that the State Police Command would not provide security for any group that would henceforth organise rallies.
The state police commissioner, however, stated that party membership registration would only be allowed based on the provisions of the Electoral Act and regulations of the Independent National Electoral Commission.
According to the statement, “Rivers State Police Command will not; I repeat; will not provide security for any group in whatever guise.
“Party membership drive is allowed strictly as stipulated in Electoral Act 2010 as amended and INEC regulations, please.”
Reacting, the President of the Save Rivers Movement, Mr. Charles Ahorlu, said the police had no right to ban political rallies in the state.
Hmmmm....what do you think???
Sunday, January 26, 2014
Breaking News: Gov. Ameachi allege that the missing N8 Trillion is in private pockets
The Rivers State Governor and Chairman of Nigerian Governors’ Forum, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi has said the $49.8bn (N8tn) missing from the Excess Crude Account was in private pockets.
Amaechi also called on the people of Ogoni to fast and pray for God’s intervention so that the Federal Government would release $1bn for the clean-up of the polluted Ogoniland as recommended by the United Nations Environment Programme.
The governor, who spoke at the rescheduled Save Rivers Movement rally in Bori, Khana Local Government Area on Saturday, said the Federal Government should tell Nigerians where it kept the money if it (FG) insisted that the money was not missing.
He said, “They (FG) said no $49.8 bn is missing. If they say $49.8bn is not missing, let them tell us where the money is, let them publish; it is in their pockets.”
Amaechi, who commented on the security provided by the police at the venue of the rally, explained that the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Muhammed Abubakar, made it possible.
“The security you see here is provided by the Inspector-General of Police. I called him and told him I was going to Khana and he graciously agreed to provide us with security. I thank him very much for his sincerity,” he added.
The governor decried calls from some quarters on him not to attend the rescheduled Save Rivers Movement rally in Khana, arguing that as the state governor, he was in charge of every local government area and that those that advised not to attend the rally were ignorant.
He said, “This morning, several persons called me and said ‘don’t go;’ I said ‘okay, give me a reason why I shouldn’t go;’ to send over 2,000 to 3,000 people to Bori for them to be shot and I won’t be there to be shot; will that be fair? If they are going to shoot you, they should shoot me first.
“I want to start by thanking the Inspector-General of Police; I had to call him and I told the IGP that I am going to Khana. I thank him for sending security and I reassured him that Rivers people are peace-loving people.”
Punch
Amaechi also called on the people of Ogoni to fast and pray for God’s intervention so that the Federal Government would release $1bn for the clean-up of the polluted Ogoniland as recommended by the United Nations Environment Programme.
The governor, who spoke at the rescheduled Save Rivers Movement rally in Bori, Khana Local Government Area on Saturday, said the Federal Government should tell Nigerians where it kept the money if it (FG) insisted that the money was not missing.
He said, “They (FG) said no $49.8 bn is missing. If they say $49.8bn is not missing, let them tell us where the money is, let them publish; it is in their pockets.”
Amaechi, who commented on the security provided by the police at the venue of the rally, explained that the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Muhammed Abubakar, made it possible.
“The security you see here is provided by the Inspector-General of Police. I called him and told him I was going to Khana and he graciously agreed to provide us with security. I thank him very much for his sincerity,” he added.
The governor decried calls from some quarters on him not to attend the rescheduled Save Rivers Movement rally in Khana, arguing that as the state governor, he was in charge of every local government area and that those that advised not to attend the rally were ignorant.
He said, “This morning, several persons called me and said ‘don’t go;’ I said ‘okay, give me a reason why I shouldn’t go;’ to send over 2,000 to 3,000 people to Bori for them to be shot and I won’t be there to be shot; will that be fair? If they are going to shoot you, they should shoot me first.
“I want to start by thanking the Inspector-General of Police; I had to call him and I told the IGP that I am going to Khana. I thank him for sending security and I reassured him that Rivers people are peace-loving people.”
Punch
Thursday, January 23, 2014
Rivers Crisis: police releases Gokana LG chiarman as Khana LG boss still in detention
The Rivers state police command has confirmed the release of Mr. Demau Demau, Chairman of Gokhana Local Government Area of the state and HRM Eze Anele Oriebe, traditional ruler of Akpor Kingdom, Rivers state.
Demau was released, Tuesday night, while the traditional ruler who was arrested Tuesday night, was released on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Mr Gregory Nwidam, Chairman, Khana Local Government Area, who was arrested the same day with Nwidam, is still in police custody.
Source: NAN
Demau was released, Tuesday night, while the traditional ruler who was arrested Tuesday night, was released on Wednesday.
Meanwhile, Mr Gregory Nwidam, Chairman, Khana Local Government Area, who was arrested the same day with Nwidam, is still in police custody.
Source: NAN
Wednesday, January 22, 2014
Anti-Amaechi Protesters Threatens To Shut Down Port Harcourt Airport if Mbu is removed As Rivers CP
THOUSANDS of youths from the four local government areas of Rivers State that make up Ikwerre Ethnic Nationality, on Tuesday, threatened to shut down the Port Harcourt International Airport, if the state Commissioner of Police, Mr. Joseph Mbu, was redeployed to another state.
The protesters, who carried placards and sang songs of praises for the CP, had blocked a portion of the busy Port Harcourt-Aba-Enugu road for an hour.
The youths also warned that they would not hesitate to shut down other entry points to the state from Ikwerre, oil wells and flow stations within the four local government areas.
While travellers going to Aba, Enugu and Umuahia were stranded for an hour as a result of the heavy traffic build-up, others coming into Port Harcourt could not get to their destination as a result of the huge crowd on the expressway.
Some of the protesters’ placards read, ‘With Mbu, no more political assassination’; ‘Ikwerre disowns Amaechi’; ‘IG, they will kill us all if you transfer Mbu’; ‘No CP Mbu, no International Airport’; ‘Mbu is needed in Rivers more than ever’ and ‘Jonathan government is the best’.
The four local government areas that make up the Ikwerre Ethnic Nationality are Port Harcourt, Emohua, Obio/Akpor and Ikwerre.
Addressing the crowd during the demonstration, the spokesman for Ikwerre Peoples Assembly, Mr. Chima Boms, said the state police commissioner had performed well and deserved commendation.
Boms said, “Consequently, the Ikwerre Peoples Assembly will resist any attempt to redeploy Mbu as the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, as such move will take us back to the dark era.
“Any redeployment of CP Mbu at this time will be asking for the total shutdown of all entry points to Rivers State, including the (Port Harcourt) International Airport, which the Ikwerre people play host to, and all oil wells, flow stations and other facilities in our land.”
The protesters, who carried placards and sang songs of praises for the CP, had blocked a portion of the busy Port Harcourt-Aba-Enugu road for an hour.
The youths also warned that they would not hesitate to shut down other entry points to the state from Ikwerre, oil wells and flow stations within the four local government areas.
While travellers going to Aba, Enugu and Umuahia were stranded for an hour as a result of the heavy traffic build-up, others coming into Port Harcourt could not get to their destination as a result of the huge crowd on the expressway.
Some of the protesters’ placards read, ‘With Mbu, no more political assassination’; ‘Ikwerre disowns Amaechi’; ‘IG, they will kill us all if you transfer Mbu’; ‘No CP Mbu, no International Airport’; ‘Mbu is needed in Rivers more than ever’ and ‘Jonathan government is the best’.
The four local government areas that make up the Ikwerre Ethnic Nationality are Port Harcourt, Emohua, Obio/Akpor and Ikwerre.
Addressing the crowd during the demonstration, the spokesman for Ikwerre Peoples Assembly, Mr. Chima Boms, said the state police commissioner had performed well and deserved commendation.
Boms said, “Consequently, the Ikwerre Peoples Assembly will resist any attempt to redeploy Mbu as the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, as such move will take us back to the dark era.
“Any redeployment of CP Mbu at this time will be asking for the total shutdown of all entry points to Rivers State, including the (Port Harcourt) International Airport, which the Ikwerre people play host to, and all oil wells, flow stations and other facilities in our land.”
Monday, January 20, 2014
Rivers state crisis: Thugs disrupts Save Rivers Movement rally
A week after the state police command prevented SRM from staging a rally in the Obio/Akpor Local Government Area of the state,an incident that led to the shooting of Senator Magnus Abe, who was flown to London for medical treatment last Sunday night.
At least two young men were shot yesterday morning during an eight-hour shooting-spree that prevented an All Progressives Congress, APC, and Save Rivers Movement, SRM, rally billed from holding at Bori, the headquarters of Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Some residents of Bori told journalists that they were woken up in the middle of night by sporadic gun shots, which lasted from 2a.m. till about 5.30a.m. on Sunday.
The shooting continued until 9am even after policemen had arrived at the area, sources at the scene said.
The two wounded youths, who were not identified, were said to be in critical hospital in Port Harcourt.
According to resident of Bori, the gunshots initially came from the direction of the express road and continued up till 3a.m. and then subsided.
They said the shooting resumed at about 5.30a.m., this time more intense and appeared to come from the direction of All Saints Cathedral, proposed venue of the rally.
“From about 5.30a.m. the bursts of gunfire were horrific. Loud gunshots rang out from both ends of the town; from the right side and from the left side. Residents of the town were woken up by sounds of gunshots,” a resident who did not want his name mentioned said.
Another resident alleged that the exchange of gunshots came from political thugs loyal to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as well as those of the APC, which wanted the rally to hold.
He said: “We have heard gunshots in Bori before at the height of political crisis, but the one of today was very scary.
“You can tell so many guns were being fired sporadically. We heard some of the young men, who were shooting moving up and down Hospital Road, shouting: ‘APC cannot hold a rally in Khana. No way. Rivers State is PDP. We will not allow APC to come home and cause trouble for us.’”
Another resident explained that the heaviest shooting took place between 9a.m. and 9.30a.m. and was targeted at some top Rivers State government officials, who came to the area at the time.
The officials include the Deputy Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Leyee Kwanee; Secretary to the State Government, Feyii George and the Chief of Staff to Government House, Tony Okocha.
According to the residents, the policemen present at the event did not intervene or prevent the political thugs from continuing with their shooting spree.
The government officials rushed into their cars when the shooting was intense and drove through a pathway from where they connected the East West Road and escaped, eyewitnesses said.
About 11.30a.m., the entrance to the premises of the All Saints Cathedral, the venue of the rally, was barricaded with 10 light police trucks, with armed regular and mobile policemen strategically stationed around the area.
Not less than 30 armed policemen were on guard. Policemen mounted check points on both sides leading to the Anglican Church. There were five check points before entering Bori from Yeghe town, a neighbouring community.
Speaking to journalists, Kwanee, condemned the inaction of the police during the shooting that prevented the rally from holding.
He said: “It is condemnable that the police did nothing while the shooting lasted. The political thugs shot sporadically for hours without police intervention. And no arrest has been made. We question the action of the policemen that are on ground in Bori.
“We had to run for our lives when the shooting became very intense. The Secretary to the State Government and the Chief of Staff to the governor were also there with me at the venue of the rally that has been violently disrupted by sponsored political thugs.”
The Rivers State Chapter of the PDP however blamed the violence that greeted the rally on the door steps of the organisers.
The party said it was raising an alarm over what it described as the increasing spate of violence in the state.
It said the violence was masterminded by the Rotimi Amaechi administration, the Save Rivers Movement and the APC, adding that the bodies were planning to continue to create a state of insecurity to justify their call for the removal of the Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mbu.
The party, in a statement issued yesterday on the Bori incident, confirmed the shooting of two Ogoni youths, whose conditions it claimed are “very critical and unstable in a private clinic in Port Harcourt.”
The statement also said that the shooting “followed a local resistance to the APC, Rotimi Amaechi and the Save Rivers Movement by the Ogoni people in Bori.”
Meanwhile, the APC yesterday warned that some people who are sympathetic to President Goodluck Jonathan may be pushing Nigeria to the precipice, following yesterday’s disruption of the rally in Rivers State.
The party also said it strongly condemned the defense of the Rivers State Police Commissioner, Mbu, by the Police Service Commission, PSC, saying the commission, by its unimaginative action, was only pandering to the Presidency.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the men, who invaded the venue of the rally by the Save Rivers Movement (SRM) in Bori, where the executives of the pan Rivers group in Khana Local Government Area of the state were to be inaugurated, attacked those in attendance and beat up some of the journalists who were invited to cover the event, damaging their vehicles and equipment in the process.
APC alleged that while the attack was going on, the police – who had been formally informed of the rally and were expected to provide protection rather watched while the attack went on.
The party said the police carried its partisanship to another level when, the previous day (Saturday), it sent over 300 men to protect a pro- PDP rally that was used solely to launch a blistering verbal assault on the APC and Gov. Chibuike Amaechi.
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Police Command has said they did not receive any request from the Save Rivers Movement to provide security at the disrupted rally venue in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State.
This disclosure was made by the spokesman for the police in the state, Ahmed Kidaya, said the police only got informed that the rally was disrupted by hoodlums who attacked those present at the rally ground.
"We are not aware that the group was having a rally in Khana. From the report I had from my people there, there are no casualties so far for now
At least two young men were shot yesterday morning during an eight-hour shooting-spree that prevented an All Progressives Congress, APC, and Save Rivers Movement, SRM, rally billed from holding at Bori, the headquarters of Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State.
Some residents of Bori told journalists that they were woken up in the middle of night by sporadic gun shots, which lasted from 2a.m. till about 5.30a.m. on Sunday.
The shooting continued until 9am even after policemen had arrived at the area, sources at the scene said.
The two wounded youths, who were not identified, were said to be in critical hospital in Port Harcourt.
According to resident of Bori, the gunshots initially came from the direction of the express road and continued up till 3a.m. and then subsided.
They said the shooting resumed at about 5.30a.m., this time more intense and appeared to come from the direction of All Saints Cathedral, proposed venue of the rally.
“From about 5.30a.m. the bursts of gunfire were horrific. Loud gunshots rang out from both ends of the town; from the right side and from the left side. Residents of the town were woken up by sounds of gunshots,” a resident who did not want his name mentioned said.
Another resident alleged that the exchange of gunshots came from political thugs loyal to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, as well as those of the APC, which wanted the rally to hold.
He said: “We have heard gunshots in Bori before at the height of political crisis, but the one of today was very scary.
“You can tell so many guns were being fired sporadically. We heard some of the young men, who were shooting moving up and down Hospital Road, shouting: ‘APC cannot hold a rally in Khana. No way. Rivers State is PDP. We will not allow APC to come home and cause trouble for us.’”
Another resident explained that the heaviest shooting took place between 9a.m. and 9.30a.m. and was targeted at some top Rivers State government officials, who came to the area at the time.
The officials include the Deputy Speaker of the state House of Assembly, Leyee Kwanee; Secretary to the State Government, Feyii George and the Chief of Staff to Government House, Tony Okocha.
According to the residents, the policemen present at the event did not intervene or prevent the political thugs from continuing with their shooting spree.
The government officials rushed into their cars when the shooting was intense and drove through a pathway from where they connected the East West Road and escaped, eyewitnesses said.
About 11.30a.m., the entrance to the premises of the All Saints Cathedral, the venue of the rally, was barricaded with 10 light police trucks, with armed regular and mobile policemen strategically stationed around the area.
Not less than 30 armed policemen were on guard. Policemen mounted check points on both sides leading to the Anglican Church. There were five check points before entering Bori from Yeghe town, a neighbouring community.
Speaking to journalists, Kwanee, condemned the inaction of the police during the shooting that prevented the rally from holding.
He said: “It is condemnable that the police did nothing while the shooting lasted. The political thugs shot sporadically for hours without police intervention. And no arrest has been made. We question the action of the policemen that are on ground in Bori.
“We had to run for our lives when the shooting became very intense. The Secretary to the State Government and the Chief of Staff to the governor were also there with me at the venue of the rally that has been violently disrupted by sponsored political thugs.”
The Rivers State Chapter of the PDP however blamed the violence that greeted the rally on the door steps of the organisers.
The party said it was raising an alarm over what it described as the increasing spate of violence in the state.
It said the violence was masterminded by the Rotimi Amaechi administration, the Save Rivers Movement and the APC, adding that the bodies were planning to continue to create a state of insecurity to justify their call for the removal of the Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mbu.
The party, in a statement issued yesterday on the Bori incident, confirmed the shooting of two Ogoni youths, whose conditions it claimed are “very critical and unstable in a private clinic in Port Harcourt.”
The statement also said that the shooting “followed a local resistance to the APC, Rotimi Amaechi and the Save Rivers Movement by the Ogoni people in Bori.”
Meanwhile, the APC yesterday warned that some people who are sympathetic to President Goodluck Jonathan may be pushing Nigeria to the precipice, following yesterday’s disruption of the rally in Rivers State.
The party also said it strongly condemned the defense of the Rivers State Police Commissioner, Mbu, by the Police Service Commission, PSC, saying the commission, by its unimaginative action, was only pandering to the Presidency.
In a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday by its Interim National Publicity Secretary, Alhaji Lai Mohammed, the party said the men, who invaded the venue of the rally by the Save Rivers Movement (SRM) in Bori, where the executives of the pan Rivers group in Khana Local Government Area of the state were to be inaugurated, attacked those in attendance and beat up some of the journalists who were invited to cover the event, damaging their vehicles and equipment in the process.
APC alleged that while the attack was going on, the police – who had been formally informed of the rally and were expected to provide protection rather watched while the attack went on.
The party said the police carried its partisanship to another level when, the previous day (Saturday), it sent over 300 men to protect a pro- PDP rally that was used solely to launch a blistering verbal assault on the APC and Gov. Chibuike Amaechi.
Meanwhile, the Rivers State Police Command has said they did not receive any request from the Save Rivers Movement to provide security at the disrupted rally venue in Khana Local Government Area of Rivers State.
This disclosure was made by the spokesman for the police in the state, Ahmed Kidaya, said the police only got informed that the rally was disrupted by hoodlums who attacked those present at the rally ground.
"We are not aware that the group was having a rally in Khana. From the report I had from my people there, there are no casualties so far for now
Friday, January 17, 2014
Wole Soyinka advice that Rivers state police commisioner;Mbu be transferred to Borno State
Nobel laureate Prof. Wole Soyinka was scathing in his review of the security situation in Rivers State yesterday. He accused President Goodluck Jonathan of “looking elsewhere for the smoke in the plane” while “the fire is right on his own roof at Aso Villa.
“Before the fire becomes unstoppable, something must be done to put it off,” he said.
The eminent writer said the President should transfer the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu, to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, to fight the Boko Haram menace.
Soyinka spoke in Osogbo on Wednesday during the celebration of the late African icon, Nelson Mandela, at the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU) in the Osun State capital.
He said the likes of CP Mbu is not required in peaceful states like Rivers, Osun and Lagos, adding that “people who are so tough, so unbeatable and untouchable should be sent to Maiduguri to go and confront the greatest menace the country is facing now” (the Boko Haram).
“Since Mbu is such a tough cop that is so powerful and mighty that he can steamroll over the democratic process of this nation and to show how tough he is, I recommend to Jonathan that he should be sent to Maiduguri to go and show his powers there with Boko Haram”, he said.
Soyinka said he was ashamed to be a citizen of a country where a police commissioner could act with impunity and opened fire on unarmed people who were exercising their fundamental human rights as upheld by the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
He described as “more shameful” that “there has not been any reaction from Aso Rock Villa on the ugly incident as at date.”
Mbu said he ordered his men to smash a rally last Sunday by a non- governmental orgamisation in Port Harcourt because the rally was not permitted by him.
Senator Magnus Abe was shot at with rubber bullet. Abe alongside Chief of Staff Government House in Rivers State Tony Okocha were injured. Abe is recuperating at a London hospital.
Soyinka insisted that people do not require a police permit to meet and that the police are obliged to provide protection for people meeting peacefully.
He remarked that if Nelson Mandela had been at the head of Nigeria, “any policeman or law enforcement officer who fires even a rubber bullet at innocent people – I am not even talking about a senator or politician or opposition – innocent people harmlessly holding a meeting and any officer be it soldier, policeman, vigilante who intrudes in such a meeting with violence using state’s power or the people’s armoury to injure or traumatise the citizens, such an individual would be in jail now, however highly placed”.
Soyinka advised President Jonathan to quickly call Mbu to order before he wreaks havoc on the democratic process.
The Nobel laureate pointed out that what is happening in Rivers State is not an affair of the state alone but that which concerns every Nigerian.
He reminded Mbu of the existence and jurisdiction of the International Court of Crimes Against Humanity adding, “I want to tell Mbu that one of these days, he would find himself in front of that criminal court and he would go and keep company with Charles Taylor and the killers in Rwanda”.
“Before the fire becomes unstoppable, something must be done to put it off,” he said.
The eminent writer said the President should transfer the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu, to Maiduguri, the Borno State capital, to fight the Boko Haram menace.
Soyinka spoke in Osogbo on Wednesday during the celebration of the late African icon, Nelson Mandela, at the Centre for Black Culture and International Understanding (CBCIU) in the Osun State capital.
He said the likes of CP Mbu is not required in peaceful states like Rivers, Osun and Lagos, adding that “people who are so tough, so unbeatable and untouchable should be sent to Maiduguri to go and confront the greatest menace the country is facing now” (the Boko Haram).
“Since Mbu is such a tough cop that is so powerful and mighty that he can steamroll over the democratic process of this nation and to show how tough he is, I recommend to Jonathan that he should be sent to Maiduguri to go and show his powers there with Boko Haram”, he said.
Soyinka said he was ashamed to be a citizen of a country where a police commissioner could act with impunity and opened fire on unarmed people who were exercising their fundamental human rights as upheld by the Supreme Court of Nigeria.
He described as “more shameful” that “there has not been any reaction from Aso Rock Villa on the ugly incident as at date.”
Mbu said he ordered his men to smash a rally last Sunday by a non- governmental orgamisation in Port Harcourt because the rally was not permitted by him.
Senator Magnus Abe was shot at with rubber bullet. Abe alongside Chief of Staff Government House in Rivers State Tony Okocha were injured. Abe is recuperating at a London hospital.
Soyinka insisted that people do not require a police permit to meet and that the police are obliged to provide protection for people meeting peacefully.
He remarked that if Nelson Mandela had been at the head of Nigeria, “any policeman or law enforcement officer who fires even a rubber bullet at innocent people – I am not even talking about a senator or politician or opposition – innocent people harmlessly holding a meeting and any officer be it soldier, policeman, vigilante who intrudes in such a meeting with violence using state’s power or the people’s armoury to injure or traumatise the citizens, such an individual would be in jail now, however highly placed”.
Soyinka advised President Jonathan to quickly call Mbu to order before he wreaks havoc on the democratic process.
The Nobel laureate pointed out that what is happening in Rivers State is not an affair of the state alone but that which concerns every Nigerian.
He reminded Mbu of the existence and jurisdiction of the International Court of Crimes Against Humanity adding, “I want to tell Mbu that one of these days, he would find himself in front of that criminal court and he would go and keep company with Charles Taylor and the killers in Rwanda”.
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