An APC Police force: Very sad for democracy
(Nigeria) By Simeon Nwakaudu
Since the very day Mr Ibrahim Idris was appointed as
Inspector-General of Police for his role during the 2015 general election whilst he served as Commissioner of
Police in Kano State, he has
metamorphosed into a nightmare to the nation’s democracy.
Not even the APC National Chairman, Mr John Odigie-Oyegun
can compete with Ibrahim Idris in the plot to illegally decimate the Peoples
Democratic Party, PDP, unleash violence
and negative propaganda on the opposition.
Idris involves
himself in APC electioneering process in a manner that beats the
imagination. He has turned the Nigerian
Police into a village vigilance
group with no laws or scruples governing
her operations.
The only thing that motivates Idris is how to impress his
oga at the top. His loyalty has never
been to Nigeria. It is always about the APC. Idris was a commissioner of police in Kano
when a resident electoral commissioner was brutally murdered with members of
his family via arson with over 30
policemen guarding his home. Till date,
we are yet to know who murdered that the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC
official in a state where APC
fantastically emerged victorious.
I have always known
Idris's capacity for mischief and
senseless propaganda, but I never
imagined that he would outdo himself in the manner he did with Mr Damian
Okoro. To gather journalists and turn the headquarters of the Nigerian Police into a theatre of the
absurd is a shameless action no well meaning
Nigerian should tolerate. The
event of Tuesday , 7th February, 2017 was a national tragedy of regrettable proportions.
That a nation's police force would connive with a bank,
withdraw money from its account and display same with its wraps before
journalists is a warning that we are in deep trouble. Our adherence
to the quota system has landed us
deep in the proverbial deep blue sea.
Pray, what kind of low intelligence would lead the leadership of the Police High Command into believing that monies believed to "bribe"
would remain intact two months after it was offered. These fraudulent police thespians in their hurry to address
the press and divert attention for the
oga at the top, never imagined that two months after the funds
would not be under same wraps.
Is that the way Idris's men keep their bribes that have
notoriously rubbished the already battered image of the police?
It is necessary
to emphasise that the Rivers State Government never
bribed any INEC Official. There
was no reason to do so because APC has never
been a political threat in Rivers State . The governor’s
performance over the last 19months has made Rivers State an impregnable fortress. The people are solidly behind the governor. PDP is there choice.
At the press conference where the embattled Inspector
General of Police and his side-kick, Damian Okoro embarrassed the security
network of the country, they claimed
that they would allow journalists interact
with the three Electoral Officers they
claimed met with Governor Wike. However, after that briefing, the IGP reneged.
Findings have
revealed that the 23 INEC Officials
arrested by the police denied any wrongdoing. They made no confessions.
They were promptly released without detention.
The Rivers State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Aniedi Ikoiwak
declared on Rhythm FM in Port Harcourt that no INEC Official
was indicted by the police after investigation.
Similarly, no policeman, across the 23 Local Government
Areas of Rivers State was indicted for electoral malpractice during the rerun legislative elections by the
IG Kangaroo Panel. Only the six
policemen maliciously dismissed for
protecting Governor Wike from the IG
Deadly assassination squad. The few media reports twisted to help the police
were planted by the APC propaganda
machine. A machine that has lost
is efficacy because Nigerians
know they lie habitually.
Where in the report did the police mention the infraction at
the INEC Isiokpo Collation Center on December 11, 2016? Thousands of women
blocked the Isiokpo INEC Collation Centre
on that day when Minister of
Transportation, Rotimi Amaechi with hundreds
of SARS Personnel and Soldiers stormed the venue, snatched result sheets, sacked journalists and INEC
Officials , stayed in the facility for
hours and re-wrote the results. They
ignored results of the earlier rerun
on March 19, 2016 and declared
the APC candidate winner of Ikwerre State Constituency.
The IGP Fraudulent and Criminally concocted report made no mention of the violent
invasion of Andoni Collation Center by soldiers and policemen. This unfortunate incident widely reported had policemen
pointing guns at the head of the immediate past Deputy Governor of Rivers
State, Engr Tele Ikuru because he insisted on public collation in the presence of journalists.
The IG Kangaroo
report made no mention of the
fact that there were no voting in Khana, Gokana and Tai Local Government
Areas. The report failed to indicate
that all result sheets were snatched by
policemen and soldiers and
taken to the home of Mr Magnus Abe, APC Senatorial Candidate for Rivers
South-East Senatorial District where allocation of votes took place. These facts were all in the
public domain through the social and traditional media.
This ugly unprincipled
report made no mention of the unscrupulous actions of the police and soldiers at Emohua
where they tried to snatch collated results.
On December 12; 2016, thousands
of Emohua people took to the streets and stopped the security agencies
from stealing their mandate. They succeeded and the results got to Port
Harcourt.
The cooked futile report of the IGP made no mention of Mr Charles Anyanwu,
APC Etche Local Government Area who was arrested by the police after his gang
inflicted gun wounds on INEC officials and policemen.
For the IG, there was nothing wrong with the killing of DSP
Alkali by a murderous gang loyal
to Amaechi’s Commissioner of Power. His report shied away from this ugly incident.
This APC-Police report made no mention of Atonyesia Peterside, who was arrested by
the Police printing fake result sheets
for INEC. Till date, police and
INEC have refused to prosecute their accomplice.
While Idris and his hatchet
men were busy cooking the report for APC, they forgot that the December
10, 2016 rerun was a conclusion of the March 19, 2016 rerun. During the March
19 , 2016 rerun elections, the collation of results for Ikwerre State
Constituency was almost concluded before the defeated Rivers APC governorship candidate,
Dakuku Peterside and others invaded the Collation Centre.
It was during this collation that the Ikwerre State
Constituency, Azubuike Wanjoku publicly assaulted the returning officer.
Wanjoku was captured on tape threatening to kill the INEC Official
if he failed to return the N12million offered him to manipulate the rerun legislative elections. Our Pro-APC IG refused to prosecute Wanjoku.
He refused to prosecute Dakuku Peterside who stole results at the Ikwerre Collation
Centre, escaped with it and was stopped
at UTC Junction where he attempted to kill Engr Chukwuemeka Woke who served as
the PDP Collation Agent for
Ikwerre/Emohua Federal Constituency. Dakuku Adol Peterside had no business being at the Ikwerre LGA Collation Center.
I have pointed out
the key examples signalling the futility
of the criminally and politically motivated report of the IG Investigative Panel. It is a
report written to humour the APC
leadership and justify the billions expended in sponsoring the
terror against Rivers State.
IG Ibrahim Idris
presides over a police force that has become a national embarrassment, according to the
Minister of Agriculture, Mr Audu Ogbe. The Minister on National Television
berated the Police for being responsible
for the scarcity of food that has rocked the nation. For the South-East
alone the corruption of IGP Ibrahim
Idris's men leads to the loss of N7billion monthly . Idris has no business being in service. He should be eased out, investigated and
prosecuted.
The 28000 policemen that Idris deployed to Rivers State for
the rerun were embarrassingly Pro-APC.
They worked for APC
chieftains as if their survival
depended on it.
I read on Friday in the newspapers that the embattled IG
joined issues with Governor Wike and the PDP. Where on earth would a Police Chief become a
spokesman for the ruling party?
Idris must be told in very clear terms that Rivers State is beyond his partisan mischief. What his 28000 policemen failed to
do, cannot be achieved via an
irresponsible report.
Idris should know that the defence of the
fundamentals of democracy outweighs
his desperation to sustain
himself in an office he has horribly managed.
Rivers people will never succumb to his lies and
recklessness. They will stand up to defend their voices.
This horribly false
report churned out by the APC Police was
done at a time the Police and Governor Wike
had joined issues issues in court in a suit challenging the validity of
the IG Kangaroo Panel. The unfortunate drama was staged in utter contempt of a court of competent
jurisdiction. If the police chief can
blatantly disregard the rule of law, we can now begin to understand
why this quota system IG is ready to become a willing tool in the hands of the APC
leadership.
This man, a cheer leader for APC is a sad dent on our democracy. He has abandoned his constitutional responsibilities and has adopted
ill-advised political roles, deploying the
police for the APC. Wherever he
meets an obstacle as was the case in Rivers State, Idris uses the
propaganda tools of the APC to attempt
what has failed even the APC, distraction.
*Simeon Nwakaudu is Special Assistant to the Rivers State Governor, Electronic
Media
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