The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has explained its deployment o the headquarters of the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RSIEC) on Thursday night, slamming the State Governor, Siminalayi Fubara, for calling the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, unprintable names and making unfounded allegations against the force.
Fubara had in an early morning press conference on Friday in front of RSIEC headquarters in Port Harcourt, the State capital, warned the IGP to be conscious of his role as head of the Police force, accusing the Rivers State Command of the Police of storming the headquarters office in attempt to steal election materials for October 5, 2024 elections before their actions were foiled.
Speaking before the media, Governor Fubara vowed to hold the IGP responsible if there is a breakdown of law and order in the State.
However, the Police in a statement on Friday by Force Spokesperson, Muyiwa Adejobi, advised the Governor to be cautious and apply decency while pursuing his political goals.
According to Adejobi: “It is therefore shocking to see the State Governor storming the RIEC office at night, wrongly accusing the Police of unlawful duties, deriding the Police institution and using unprintable words to describe the Inspector-General of Police.
“The Nigeria Police takes exception to the unwarranted outburst of the Governor and particularly the weighty accusations which he falsely levied against the Inspector-General of Police and the entire Nigeria Police Force and advise caution and decency in the pursuit of individual political goals.”
Adejobi noted that there was a court order restraining the Police from participating in the Rivers State Local Government election, adding that the IGP instructed the Commissioner of Police to obey the order.
The Police Spokesperson added: “Firstly, it is important to clarify that there is a subsisting Federal High Court order barring the Nigeria Police Force from participating in the Rivers State election.
“This order was duly served on both the NPF and the Rivers State Government. As a law-abiding institution, the IGP instructed the Commissioner of Police in Rivers State to strictly adhere to this court order by refraining from any direct involvement in the election process.
“However, on the evening of 3rd October 2024, the Commissioner of Police in Rivers State received reports that policemen from Rivers State Government House had been deployed to the office of Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission (RIEC) to aid the conduct of the election.
“This report was also relayed to the Inspector-General of Police who gave clearance to the Commissioner of Police to withdraw the policemen from the Government House and replace them with policemen from the Command Operations department.
“The mandate of the men from the Operations Department was to provide overnight security for the RIEC to prevent any attack on the facility.”
Adejobi stated that the response of the command to secure RIEC overnight was professional and supported by the IG.
He said: “It is also important to note that prior to this, there had been a series of security breaches in the state following the spate of court orders and counter orders and reactions to them by supporters of the different political parties involved.
“The response of the command to secure RIEC overnight was therefore professional and supported by the Inspector-General of Police. For emphasis sake, the policemen deployed to RIEC from the operations department of Rivers State Command on the night of 3rd October 2024 were with the sole mandate to protect the RIEC office from attack overnight.
“This action was proactive and responsive to intelligence at the disposal of the State Command.”