Bayelsa Gov’s Aide Kidnapped In PH …As PHALGA Stakeholders Demand Mbu’s Removal

The security situation in Rivers State worsened yesterday when gunmen struck in the heart of Port Harcourt, the Rivers State capital, kidnapped the Special Adviser to the Bayelsa State Governor on Power, Hon Olice Kemenanabo.
The gunmen were said to have trailed Hon  Kemenanabo and whisked him away in a tinted jeep in the ever busy D/line area of Port Harcourt at gun point. The kidnap of the SA on Power to Bayelsa State Governor comes few days after the release, last week of three National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members kidnapped in the state about two weeks ago.
The spate of kidnapping in the state has been on the increase in the last three months following the inability of the police high command to nip the spiraling crime rate in the state in the bud. The near collapse of the police superstructure and the resulting inability to tame the burgeoning crime situation , The Tide gathered, informed the heightened  calls from prominent stakeholders for the immediate redeployment of the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Mbu Joseph Mbu.
Meanwhile, stakeholders in Port Harcourt City Local Government Area of Rivers State have condemned in very strong terms, the unwarranted utterances of the state Commissioner of Police, Mbu Joseph Mbu, which they described as an affront not only to the exalted office of the Governor, Rt Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, but also the generality of the peace-loving people of the state.
Consequently, they have joined other well-meaning Rivers people and residents of the state to demand the immediate redeployment of Mr Mbu in the interest of peace and sustainable security of the state.
The stakeholders, including responsible elected and appointed representatives of the people of the local government, chiefs, elders, captains of industry, men, women and youth leaders, who made the demand during a special stakeholders’ forum at the council hall in Port Harcourt, expressed worry that the commissioner of police’s activities since assumption of duties in the state have aided an upsurge in renewed spate of insecurity in the state.
They argued that the situation was “adversely affecting the socio-economic well-being of the people as evidenced in the recent threat by Nigeria Liquefied Natural Gas (NLNG) to relocate to Lagos”.
The PHALGA stakeholders called on “the peace-loving youth of Port Harcourt City and Rivers State to remain calm, and resist attempts to be used by self-seeking and desperate politicians to destibilise our hard-earned peace and security in their bid to rule Rivers State at all cost”.
According to them, “His Excellency, Rt Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi remains our leader, and we have resolved to follow him wherever he leads”.
They stated that imaginary face-off between President Goodluck Jonathan and Governor Chibuike Amaechi “is a creation of few Abuja-based Rivers politicians, who desperately need a platform to massage their egos, and vaulting ambition,” and appealed to “Mr President to be wary of them”.
The PHALGA stakeholders pledged their “loyalty to the President and Commander-In-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, Dr Goodluck Jonathan.”
They also assured their “unflinching support and loyalty to our dear brother and son, Rt. Hon Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi, the Executive Governor of Rivers State and Chairman, Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF).”

L-R:Prince Charles Osakwe of House of Bezal, Minister of Culture and Tourism, Edem Duke, Minister of Women Affairs, Zainab Maina; Governor Gabriel Suswam of BenueState, and Vice President Namadi Sambo, at an exhibition stand, during the brand launch of Nigeria Fascination In Abuja , last Thursday.