Reinstate Wike’s security aides immediately, PDP tells IGP

THE Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has condemned the hasty dismissal of six police security aides attached to Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State, saying that they were being punished for preventing rigging in the recent rerun in the state.

This was just as the Rivers government, on Saturday, decried the dismissal of the policemen, describing it as “infinite sadness.”

The state’s Commissioner for Information and Communication, Dr Austin Tam-George, made the assertion in a statement in Port Harcourt.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that the Force Headquarters had, on Friday, announced the dismissal of the policemen over their alleged roles in the December 10, 2016 rerun elections in Rivers.

But the PDP led by Senator Ahmed Makarfi, in a statement in Abuja, on Saturday, by its national publicity secretary, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, called for not only the immediate reversal of the decision but also the prosecution of the head of Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in the state over his alleged role in the election.

Describing the dismissal of the policemen as “an affront on ethical responsibility,” the PDP argued that the offence adduced by the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) for their secret trial and subsequent dismissal was “a mere concoction and a ruse.”

It recalled Governor Wike’s travail in the hands of the police, which it said had previously withdrew his security aides including the Chief Security Officer (CSO).

The Senator Ahmed Makarfi-led PDP said: “The hurried dismissal of these policemen is another valid pointer to the pre-election rigging plans and the assassination attempt on Governor Wike by the APC-led administration before the December 10, 2016 rerun elections in Rivers State.

“It will be recalled that the Nigeria Police Force withdrew over 70 per cent of its personnel deployed to Rivers State Government House and the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the governor few days to the Elections.

“The accusation of ‘professional misconduct’ levelled against the officers, who only performed their constitutional duties by the police hierarchy, is a slap on the rule of law, ethical responsibility of police duties and the tenets of democratic values.

“This is unfair and highly condemnable as the accused officers were not even allowed to defend themselves before they were  summarily dismissed, which is against basic human rights. Change administration indeed!

“This is unacceptable and the dismissed officers should be reinstated immediately in the interest of professionalism, justice, equity, and fair play,” the PDP said.

Also recalling the action of SARS during the re-run election, the PDP stated: “For instance, it is on record that a top shot of the police Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS) in Rivers State was seen on television with his men openly hijacking election materials and intimidating voters and INEC officials during the elections.

“In addition, it is a well-known fact that the security agencies in Rivers State, during the rerun elections threw caution to the wind and worked assiduously in favour of the ruling party, the All Progressive Congress (APC),” the statement added.

Also responding to the policemen’s dismissal, the Rivers’ commissioner for information, Tam-George, alleged that the policemen were “subjected to a secret and unfair trial, on totally fictitious charges of professional misconduct” in connection with the legislative rerun elections.”

“This is a tragic day for professionalism and the respect for human rights in the Nigeria Police. The dismissed officers committed no crime, other than foil a carefully orchestrated electoral heist by officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in collusion with the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Nigeria Police,” he said.

Tam-George added that the claim by the police that the affected officers misused their firearms while in the convoy of Governor Wike that day was a “wrong and cruel fabrication,” noting that the governor did not depart from his official premises on the day of the election, and therefore, had no use for an armed convoy.