PCRC Backs Mbu’s Redeployment

The Police Community Relation Committee (PCRC) in the Rivers State has joined millions of Nigerians advocating for the redeployment of the state Commissioner of Police, Mbu Joseph Mbu.
Chairman of Rivers State Police Command chapter of PCRC, Hon Austen Young, said this in a keynote address at the  investiture ceremony of the state commissioner of police as grand patron of the Rivers State Youth Federation last Friday at the Police Officers Mess in Port Harcourt.
Hon Young stated that reactions of Rivers people to the political crisis rocking the state, especially with regards to the call for the removal of Mbu was a clear vindication of the earlier position of  PCRC that police-community collaboration can be enhanced through constant and consistent interaction that would engender confidence building an trust among the citizenry.
He disclosed that the strident and persistent calls for the redeployment of the state commissioner of Police, Mbu are possibly a glaring signal to the security agencies, adding that what is happening in the state today was capable of bringing many states in Nigerian to rubbles.
The Inspector General of Police, M D Abubakar should not see the “Egyptian treatment” threat of  Dino Melaye as the “rantings of an ant”. This is a call for civil insurrection, and security agencies must not wait for it to happen before taking appropriate actions, it may be too late, he added.
The chairman of police community relations committee said youths from Abual/Odual, Ahoada East, Eleme, Gokana, Ogu/Bolo and Okrika Local Government Areas of the state were hired  to besiege the state House of Assembly during the recent crisis that rocked the legislature.
He condemned the action of the youths from these local government areas for allowing themselves to be used as thugs to terrorise the state House of Assembly complex during the political impasse that rocked the Assembly, adding that security was a collective responsibility that must not be mingled with politics.
He stated that the recent politicall motivated security threats rocking the state must not be handled with kids gloves or allowed to degenerate into a full blown Niger Delta crisis, noting that the failure on the part of the security agencies to effectively deal with these threats in the past was largely due to, lapses in inter-agency coloration, poor funding of the police and obvious disconnect with the  community.
The PCRC boss said that the police have a duty to protect and help in deepening the country nascent democracy through confidence building efforts that will go beyond calling  for community collobration to address crime situations and fear of crime, as well as creating level playing ground for community folks to vote for candidates of their choice during elections.
Earlier, the state commissioner of police, represented on the occasion by the Assistant Commissioner of Police, Operations ACP Godwin Nwobodo, urged the youth to always follow the path of peace in their dealings, adding that it was  the responsibility of the youth to determine how they want  the state to be.