THE political crisis rocking Rivers State deepened on Thursday as the police commissioner, Mr Mbu Joseph Mbu, withdrew the police escort and orderly attached to the Speaker of the House of Assembly, Rt. Hon. Otelemaba Dan Amachree.
One of the security agents, who spoke anonymously, said: “We got the signal that we should withdraw from the Speaker and report in our offices. It was a direct order and there is nothing we can do about it.”
The Speaker, in a statement, confirmed the development.
The statement, entitled ‘Withdrawal of my security personnel’, reads: “Sequent to my letter to the President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan GCFR, Commander-in-Chief, Nigerian Armed Forces of plans by some persons to unleash mayhem in the state, the Commissioner of Police, Rivers State, Mbu Joseph Mbu, has unceremoniously withdrawn the Police Orderly and Escort attached to me.
“Recall that I have earlier expressed my fears about plans to withdraw Security Operatives from the Governor and top officials of the Rivers State Government, including me, making us vulnerable to attack by hoodlums. Now, my fears are made worse by the recent murder of an Aide to Chief G. U. Ake, Mr Eric Ezenekwe, at his Home Town in Erema, Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni Local Government Area of Rivers State.
“On this premise, I still stand on my earlier call for the redeployment of the Commissioner of Police, Rivers State, Mr Mbu Joseph Mbu”.
