Amaechi insists on CP’s transfer over crime rate

RIVERS State Governor Rotimi Amaechi has called on the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Mohammed Abubakar, to transfer Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mbu, out of the state without delay.

Amaechi said the call became necessary following the increase in kidnapping, armed robbery and other criminal activities in the state.

He spoke on Tuesday when the National Youth Service Corps Governing Board Chairman, Chief Gordon Bozimo, led a delegation to visit him in Port Harcourt.

Three corps members were kidnapped in the state on Saturday.

The CP, Amaechi maintained, had derailed in the discharge of his legitimate function of protecting lives and property in the state.

The governor said, “We used to have a wonderful security system and Commissioners of Police, who understood their functions and knew what to do. But when the Police in Abuja suddenly withdrew the predecessor of this present Commissioner of Police and posted the person called 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 know where our corps members are and we know the level of security arrangement we put in place to protect them.  We also send the State Security Service to watch over them. We have equipment that monitor what happens where.

“The only way they will not kidnap 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 added that the state would soon stop funding the police, especially as they have failed to deliver and protect the lives and property of the citizens.

 He said, “I do not 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 and its 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 kidnapping of more NYSC members may take place, except they remove Joseph Mbu.

“It will worsen when the state government stops funding the police, because we will soon stop funding them.

 “My fear is that his stay in the state is intended to kill the business climate in Port Harcourt and the fast growing economy of our state.”

Bozimo, in his speech, had expressed concerns over the recent kidnap and the ordeal faced by corps members posted to the state in recent times.

He said, “Three days ago, three of our corps members were kidnapped. I feel very worried because if Port Harcourt is not safe, I do not know where people will run to in the state for safety.”

Meanwhile, the Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Mrs. Angela Agabe, said the command had achieved a lot in crime fighting.

Agabe, who declined to comment on the governor’s call for the transfer of the  police commissioner, recalled that a lot of arms and ammunition had been recovered from hoodlums while many armed robbery and kidnap suspects had been arrested.

Source: Punch