The Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) in charge of Zone 6, Mr. Tunde Ogunshakin, has ordered the withdrawal of the C4I Unit of the Department of Operations of the Rivers State Police Command from all political activities.
The development ostensibly came as a reaction to the allegation by the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) on March 8 that the C4I, which was set up in 2007 to fight kidnapping and terrorism in the state, was being used by the state government and the All Progressives Congress (APC) to frame, arrest and assassinate some of the party leaders in the state with the aim of discrediting President Goodluck Jonathan and its governorship candidate, Chief Nyesom Wike.
While the APC denied the allegation, the State Police Command said it was not aware of such development but promised to investigate the allegations.
In a statement issued on Sunday in Port Harcourt, the AIG said: “The Zonal Command has received serious reports of allegations made against the C4I Unit of the Department of Operations of the Rivers State Police Command. The allegations were hinged on the supposition that the C4I Unit was being used by a political party against members of another political party. The allegations further hold that there were plans to frame some individuals with the connivance of the C4I Unit.”
He said in response to the allegations, he held meetings on March 10 with Rivers State Police Commissioner and some other senior police officers, including the expatriate supervisor of C4I at the State Police Headquarters, Rivers State.
He noted that the expatriate supervisor of the C4I Unit denied all the allegations against the outfit.
The statement said in the course of the meeting, Ogunsakin ordered that the police officer who heads the C4I Unit, CashmirIhiezu (SP), must give daily situation report to the Commissioner of Police, Rivers State Command every morning.
Other directives given by the AIG include, “The C4I Unit of the Department of Operations must continue to operate as a formation of the Rivers State Police Command and in that light must not take any action or make any deployment without the knowledge of the Commissioner of Police, Rivers State Police Command.
