To stem the gradual return to insecurity in Rivers State, Governor Rotimi Chibuike Amaechi yesterday restated his demand for Inspector-General of Police Mohammed Abubakar to redeploy Commissioner of Police Mbu Joseph Mbu.
Amaechi spoke when he received a delegation of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) Governing Board, led by its chair, Chief Gordon Bozimo, at the Government House in Port Harcourt, the state capital.
He also threatened to stop funding the police, should the IG fail to remove the commissioner.
Bozimo was worried about last week’s kidnap of three Youth Corps members in the state.
He said: “Three days ago, three of our ‘corpers’ were kidnapped. I feel very worried because, if Port Harcourt is not safe, I don’t know where people will run to. So, we are imploring Your Excellency to look at the problems critically and fashion out what we can do to nip the problem in the bud. If not, ‘corpers’ may begin to avoid Rivers State the way they did to Borno, Yobe and other trouble-ridden states in the North. I have the intention of discussing it with the Inspector General of Police when I get to Abuja.”
Amaechi said the call for Mbu’s transfer became necessary because the commissioner had derailed from his legitimate function of protecting lives and property.
Said the governor: “We used to have a wonderful security system with commissioners of police who understood their functions and knew what to do.
“But since the Police in Abuja suddenly posted the person called Mbu Joseph Mbu, nothing has been working again.
“Mbu has been sitting with politicians for political reasons and the security system is down and out. Since he came, we have never had peace. We have held Security Council meetings two or three times. But before Mbu came, we used to hold security meetings two or three times every month. We knew where our Youth Corps were and we know the level of security arrangement we put in place to protect them. We also sent the SSS to watch over them. We have equipment that monitors what happens there. The only way they will not kidnap youth corps members is to send Joseph Mbu back to where he came from and post us a commissioner of police that will serve the interest of this state.”
He urged the NYSC Board to unravel the issues surrounding the kidnap of the three Youth Corps members to the Federal Government and the implications it would have on the state, pointing out that his administration would soon stop funding the police for its inability to protect the lives and property of citizens.
Said Amaechi: “I don’t want a commissioner of police that will work for me. I want a commissioner of police that will work for the interest of the state; that will work for Rivers people. So, it is not only me that you should complain to; talk to Inspector-General of Police and those who transferred the commissioner of Police that was working in the interest of Rivers people.
“Port Harcourt is becoming unsafe and more NYSC members may be kidnapped, except they remove Joseph Mbu. It will worsen when we (the state government) stop funding the Police, because we will soon stop funding them.”
Amaechi warned that Mbu’s continued stay in the state would jeopardise the conducive business climate of Port Harcourt and the fast growing economy.
“The Commissioner of Police, Mbu Joseph Mbu is a politician, because he attends political meetings with those who brought him to our state and there is no way you can stop that. The only way you can stop that is to ask the politicians in Abuja to withdraw their Commissioner of Police and allow us to secure Rivers State. My fear is that his stay in Rivers State is intended to kill the conducive business climate in Port Harcourt and the fast growing economy of our state.”
Amaechi accused Mbu of disrespect, insubordination to constituted authority, arrogance and gross misconduct to the government and people.
He said: “The Federal Government should post a new Commissioner of Police. I have no control over the present Commissioner of Police Mbu, even though the constitution says so. He called a press conference, where he said, he does not report to the governor of the state, who is the Chief Security Officer of the State. So, how do I (Amaechi) protect our citizens?”
Police Spokesperson Angela Agabe, a Deputy Superintendent of Police defended her boss, saying Mbu is not a politician, but a professional police officer.
She maintained that the CP had been doing everything possible to reduce the crime rate.
When asked to react to Amaechi’s declaration that the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Abubakar, should as a matter of urgency transfer Mbu out of the state, Mrs Agabe said: “No comment. Rt. Hon. Amaechi is the governor of the state.”
She reiterated that no society is crime free, noting that officers and men of the command are putting in their best to ensure the protection of life and property.
The police spokesperson said: “It is not true that since CP Mbu was transferred (from Oyo State in March this year) to Rivers State, there has been an upsurge in insecurity and criminal activities, including kidnapping.”
Mrs. Agabe urged the public to give information about criminals to the police, promising that their identities would be well protected.
