‘Police Siege On Obio/Akpor Unlawful’

The continued occupation of the Obio/Akpor Local Government Council Secretariat on the orders of the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr Mbu Joseph Mbu has been described as an act of impunity and  disobedience of  a subsisting order of a court  of competent jurisdiction.

The former chairman of the Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in Rivers State, Barrsiter Uche Okwukwu, who stated this in an interview last Wednesday in Port Harcourt, disagreed with the Commissioner of Police and described the police excuse for continued occupation of the secretariat as baseless.

Okwukwu explained that the police did not seal the United Nations office in Abuja because there was an explosion. It did not shut down the police headquarters in Abuja because a bomb exploded there, adding that what the commissioner should do was to provide reasonable security in and around the premises of the council.

He urged the commissioner to open the secretariat and provide security so that the physical integrity of lives and property of the place could be guaranteed.

“The physical integrity of lives and properties have to be protected ad that is the duty of the police. To provide reasonable and maximum security that will make people move in and out of the council and work”, he said.

Okwukwu noted that the Obio/Akpor Local Government was a very big hub for socio-economic activities and had over one million people with over 500,000 voting strength, adding that what affects the local government equally affects the state as a whole.

He said the commissioner of police should be obedient and respect court orders and open the council.

Okwukwu regretted that after the calls for the removal of the police commissioner weeks back, Mr Mbu still heads the police in the state, adding that the  commissioner might be confused with security issues in the state.