Stop Police Probe Of Rivers Rerun …Wike Urges Court

The Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Wike, last Monday, approached the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court for an order stopping further probe into violence that marred the December 10, 2016, legislative re-run elections in the state.
He applied for an interim order of injunction barring the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, from proceeding with planned investigation into complaints, petitions, allegations of crime and various acts of criminality during the poll.
Aside the IGP, Wike, in the ex-parte motion filed through his lawyer, Chief Mike Ozekhome, SAN, joined the State Security Services (SSS) and a Deputy Commissioner of Police, Damian Okoro, as defendants in the suit.
Moving the motion before Justice Gabriel Kolawole last Monday, Ozehkome, prayed the court to issue an interim order of injunction restraining the defendants or their agents from enforcing or executing matters contained in a letter the IGP wrote to Wike on December 20, 2016, pertaining to the probe.
He told the court the IGP had in the said letter entitled, ‘Investigation into allegations of crimes committed during the last rerun elections in Rivers State’, stated that the, “purview of the investigation will cover allegations of bribes taken, several brazen murder incidents (including that of serving police officers), reports of gross human rights abuses, acts of sabotage/terrorism, kidnapping for ransom and ballot box snatching, all of which were perpetrated in connivance with several federal and state civil servants as well as highly placed politicians within and outside the state”.
Ozekhome said the action of the police to constitute a 15-member panel to investigate the crisis and deaths that ravaged the December 10 rerun legislative elections was illegal, unlawful, unconstitutional, null and void.
The letter also requested the governor to furnish the police investigative team with all necessary information and exhibits that may assist the team in the investigation.
It would be recalled that the Inspector General of Police had, in Abuja, constituted a 15-man panel to unravel the violence that rocked the December 10 rerun elections.