It is a common belief that the police’s constitutional role in any country to ensure security and obedience to the rule of law, so when we have a situation when it seems like the police is taking sides and acting in a manner unbefitting of its constitutional role, it calls for concern. This is why the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, yesterday, said the police high command will investigate the role of the police in the fracas at the Rivers State House of Assembly, saying anybody found to have misbehaved would be held accountable.
He said he had dispatched a Deputy Inspector General of Police to Port Harcourt to investigate the situation.
The Inspector General of police’s position came on the heels of thorough scrutiny by the Minister of State for Education, Nyesom Wike, by his colleague ministers before the commencement of the Federal Executive Council meeting at the State House.
Not only the police but we have also been able to confirm that 35 military men assigned to protect Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State had been withdrawn from Government House, PortHarcourt.
When reporters called the Army Public Relations Officer, PRO, in the state, Major Mike Etete, he referred him to the police PRO, DSP Angela Agabe, who also declined comments on the matter.
Within all these fracas, it is believed that 27 members of the House of Assembly yesterday, reiterated their unflinching loyalty to the speaker of the House, Otelema Amachree as they dismissed contentions by the group of five that the speaker had been impeached.
In a statement signed by 26 members of the group, they disputed the claim by Evans Bipi that Amachree had been impeached by the group of five members after the fracas of last Tuesday even as they pledged 100 per cent loyalty to Governor Rotimi Amaechi.
They said: “The attention of the undersigned members of the Rivers State House of Assembly have been drawn to the alleged and widely publicized “Impeachment” of the Speaker of the Rivers State House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Otelema Daniel Amachree by five sponsored and disgruntled members of the Assembly.
“We state for the benefit of the public that no such situation existed on the floor of the House. These are mere machinations of the five members desperate to do their masters bidding.
“The purported claim by a member of the Assembly, Evans Bapakaye Bipi to be the new speaker of the State Assembly is outrightly false and hallucinations of the most debased form. We urge members of the public and the press to disregard such claims.
“We hereby declare that we are 100 percent behind our Speaker, Rt. Hon. Otelemaba Dan Amachree even as we are fully in support of our Governor, Rt. Hon. Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi.