TUC Withdraws Ultimatum To Rivers Police

The leadership of the
Trade Union Congress of Nigeria (TUC), Rivers State chapter has formally withdrawn the 14-day ultimatum issued to the newly appointed Commissioner of Police, Mr Chris Ezike, and the State Police Command over the rising crime rate in the state.
The Union in a statement in Port Harcourt on Wednesday made available to The Tide and signed by its State Chairman, Comrade Hyginus Chika Onuegbu said the withdrawal of the ultimatum to the State Police Command followed a successful meeting held between the Commissioner of Police and the union leadership with its affiliate unions on Wednesday in the office of  the Commissioner of Police”, along Moscow Road, Port Harcourt.
Onuegbu said the union and the State Police Command had agreed to partner and collaborate for the improvement in the security of lives and property in the state.
He said the meeting was very fruitful as the CP Chris Ezike assured the Union that the State Police Command was working assiduously to improve security of lives and property in the state.
The TUC boss said the union was poised to give all necessary support and assistance to the new CP and the State Police Command in their efforts to rid the state of criminal activities, stressing that the organised labour in the state will not relent in its determination to ensure that criminals find no safe haven in the state.
He said the meeting with the CP afforded the union an opportunity to enumerate some of the security challenges facing its members and affiliates in the state especially the impunity with which kidnapping, armed robbery, wanton destruction and killings were being done in the state.
He also explained that the CP  equally informed the union of some of the successes so far recorded by the State Police Command since his assumption of duty, stressing that the union had pledged its total support to the CP on crime reduction and prevention in the State.
The meeting was attended by the State Exco of the union and officers of key affiliates in the state such as Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN), Association of Senior Civil Servants of Nigeria (ASCSN), Nigeria Union of Allied Health Professional (NUAHP), Senior Staff Association of Communication, Transport and Corporation (SSACTAC), Association of Senior Staff of Banks, Insurance and Financial Institutions (ASSBIFI), Senior Staff Association of Universities Teaching  Hospitals, Research Institute and Associated Institutions (SSAUTHRIA), Senior Staff Association of Electricity and Allied Companies (SSAEAC) Air Transport Services Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (ATSSSAN), Nigeria Merchant Navy Officers and Water Transport Senior Staff Association (CCESSA) National Association of Community Health Practitioners of Nigeria (NACHP) among others.
It would be recalled that TUC had on Friday July 3, 2015 issued 14 day ultimatum to the newly appointed Commissioner of Police, Chris Ezike and the State Police Command to stem the tide of the rising crimes rate the state or in alterative face the Union’s wrath of industrial action.

Philip Okparaji