You’re Cause Of Rivers Crisis: PDP Tells Tinubu
The arrival of the Senate Committee on Police following the fracas between the men of the Rivers State police command, and supporters of Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, at a rally in Port Harcourt, which led to the alleged shooting of Senator Magnus Ngei Abe has caused uncertainty in the state as feuding politicians move to win over the committee.
The Amaechi camp, comprising members of the All Progressive Congress (APC) is pushing for the redeployment of Commissioner of Police Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu, while politicians in the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) want him to remain, despite pressure that he should be redeployed for allegedly acting on the orders of the PDP.
Amaechi has described Mbu as a card-carrying member of the PDP, and has repeatedly called for his redeployment.
The committee will investigate the shooting of Abe, who represents Rivers South-East Senatorial, and present their report to the National Assembly for deliberation and decision.
The chairman, Senate Committee on Police, Senator Igwe Paulinus Wagwu, who led members of the committee on a fact finding visit to Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi in Port Harcourt, said the National Assembly had called for the deployment of Mbu, but noted that the matter involving the state police commissioner was still in court and prayed that justice be done.
He said: “We are here in Rivers State to carry out fact finding on the incident that happened last Sunday where it was alleged that the police shot teargas and rubber bullets, which incidentally, also affected Senator Magnus Abe. We have not concluded our investigation yet, when we have concluded our investigation, we will submit our report to the National Assembly for their deliberation and resolution on the matter”, Senator Igwe said.
The Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, Tony Okocha, told the senate committee that the Save Rivers Movement, an NGO was on a sensitization and mobilization mission having informed the police in writing, but that the venue was invaded by the same police.
Meanwhile, the APC has commended the Senate for its intervention on the matter, and renewed call for the deployment of Mbu.
The party, which spoke through Chief Eze Chukwuemeka Eze, the media adviser to the interim chairman of the party, Dr. Davies Ikanya, noted that:
“The Senate did not only strongly condemn the shameful incident during its Monday sitting but also advised the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, to investigate the incident. Showing the right example, which we expect the police top hierarchy in Abuja to follow, the Senate Committee on Police, led by its Chairman, Senator Igwe Paulinus Wagwu, arrived Port Harcourt on Tuesday to commence fact-finding on the circumstances surrounding the incident, which happened at the premises of the Rivers State College of Arts and Science, Rumuola in Port Harcourt.
“This prompt action by the Senate has proved to be a source of consolation to us in the face of the unrelenting onslaught of the Federal Might bent on turning Rivers State into a theatre of war for mundane political reasons. It gives us hope that there is still light at the end of the tunnel.
“We wish to use this opportunity to once more cry out over the excesses of the State Commissioner of Police, CP Mbu Joseph Mbu, and to call for his immediate redeployment out of Rivers State as he has become a nuisance and part of the problem.”
But in a reaction, the state PDP, has said that former Lagos State Governor Asiwaju Bola Tinubu is behind the “falsehood and propaganda” being carried out by the APC in Rivers State, alleging that Tinubu is interested in the business opportunities in the state.
The party, through Jerry Needam, the media adviser to Rivers PDP chairman, Felix Obuah alleged that Tinubu is fuelling “the political crisis in the State.”
He added: “Senator Tinubu who is Gov Amaechi’s close ally according to a statement by the Special Adviser on Media to the State Chairman of PDP, Jerry Needam is only interested in protecting his business contracts in Rivers State by courtesy of Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.
The party notes that investigations reveal that the major contracting firms handling various jobs in the state are owned by Senator Bola Tinubu. The PDP regrets that the only way Senator Tinubu feels he can sustain his business interest and retain his grip on the soul of the state is to continue to deceive Gov Amaechi and instigate crisis in the State.
“Rivers State remains only one, out of all the PDP controlled states in the country, and cannot alone give the APC the votes required to form the central government without a corresponding support from others. This clearly shows that there are other reasons for the special attention of the APC National leadership in Rivers State. And to complement this vicious desire, they have found a willing tool in Gov Amaechi, who too is being propelled by an inordinate political ambition to play the prodigal son needed by these gold diggers to achieve their aim.”
This is the more reason why all Rivers people must not let go by rejecting them and their antics. We are a peaceful people who must not be involved in any act capable of taking the life of another and will continue to see the lives of others as sacrosanct.
On the alleged shooting at Senator Magnus Abe Sunday, January 12, 2014, the PDP said no person would wish the distinguished Senator representing the Rivers South/East dead, let alone the police who were at the scene of the incident to ensure there was no breakdown of law and order.
According to the party, the amplified report is yet another media hype by Gov Amaechi and his supporters to whip up sentiments and cause disaffection against the PDP in the State.
While regretting any incident that could have caused bodily harm to any free citizen of the State, the party said it was not true that anybody let alone five children were shot dead while the police tried to stop the illegal gathering by the so called Save Rivers Group.
It challenged the APC’s spokesman in the State, Chief Chukwuemeka Eze to disclose the identities of the five children he claimed were shot dead by the police.
“The police should also investigate this weighty allegation by Chief Eze and invite him for details and if found to have raised false alarm, tried and punished accordingly”, the PDP stressed.
