A new drama has begun playing out in Rivers State, this time, between the state governor, Rotimi Amaechi, and the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Joseph Mbu, who accuses the governor of being a tyrant and a dictator.
Mbu said this while speaking to newsmen in Port Harcourt, as he also dared anyone to embark on a protest in the state without seeking police permission.
He maintained that the state governor was unhappy with him because he (Mbu) refused to be subservient to him.
Amaechi had on Tuesday lamented the rising wave of crime in the state, particularly the increase in the rate of kidnapping and armed robbery and expressed reservation over Mbu’s commitment to tackle the situation.
In his reaction, the police commissioner said though he had always respected Amaechi, it was necessary for the governor to reciprocate his (Mbu) gesture.
He, however, disagreed with the governor, saying that on the contrary, the security situation had improved.
He said, “The office of the governor is a respected office.
“Sometimes, silence is golden but sometimes it is misconstrued. I have respect for Governor Amaechi but his attacks on me are going beyond bounds.
“Our governor is very tyrannical, he is a dictator. He wants everybody to say ‘yes sir’ to him and I said I will not say so. I am a professional.
“The governor should please stop playing politics with my name. I will tell the whole world why the governor is against me in the next interview. I will also tell you the crime rate before I came to Rivers and what the situation is now.”
On the claim by Amaechi that he (Mbu) was always reporting the deliberations of the State Security Council meeting to Abuja, Mbu explained that the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, had insisted that minutes of such meeting be sent to him.
Mbu said the state had never held any formal security meeting, adding that letters were supposed to be sent to the Nigerian Navy and other security outfits through the Special Adviser on Security.
He said, “There has never been any formal letter written to convene security meeting since I came.
“Letters for such meetings go to the security commanders indicating that there will be a security meeting with the governor or his deputy. Attached to the letter are the agenda and the minutes of the previous meeting. I ask the governor to produce such. What the governor does is to ask his security officer to call the Commissioner of Police for a meeting. These people are below the rank of a DCP. I stopped them recently from calling my line because there are channels of communication. There is an Inspector General of Police (IG) directive that after every Security Council meeting details must be sent by hand to the IG.
“One issue I have had with the governor is who chairs internal security meetings in the state. He, (governor) said we should rotate it, but I said no, there is a letter from the NSA on this. It is the Commissioner of Police that does. I told him if my predecessors did not do what was right I won’t follow them. The Commissioner of Police is to chair the forum and assume responsibility to brief the governor.
Ibim Semenitari, Commissioner of Information and Communication, while reacting to Mbu’s comments said: “Mr Mbu’s comments are most unfortunate but we would prefer to address the matters raised administratively.”