Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi
THE
Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Joseph Mbu, on Thursday
accused the Rivers State government of mobilising youths against
President Goodluck Jonathan.
Mbu said this while giving reasons for
the chasing out of 13,000 newly-recruited teachers from the Liberation
Stadium where they had gathered to receive their letters of posting on
Wednesday.
Armed policemen had stormed the stadium and chased away the teachers.
But speaking with newsmen in Port
Harcourt, Mbu explained that he acted on a security report that those at
the stadium were hired to disrupt the peace in the state.
The CP said the people at the stadium on Wednesday were youths hired to demonstrate against Jonathan.
Putting the number of the youths inside the stadium at 18,000, Mbu displayed some placards allegedly recovered from the crowd.
Some of the placards displayed by the CP
read, ‘Amaechi for Vice President 2015’, ‘North for President,’
‘Amaechi for VP,’ ‘It is time for the North’.
Mbu said the action of the state government was targetted at distracting the police.
He said, “The truth is that the
government of the state is trying to keep the police perpetually at work
and distracting us. Those newly employed teachers in quote were hired
youths. They were hired to carry placards and protest against the
President of the country. I am here to show you the placards.
“They were called to go there. In all,
they did not invite the police; nobody invited the police. My informants
called me that they were not called to be given letters but were given
card boards to protest against Jonathan.
“They tore these things into pieces
(holding the placards). We put them together. As a Commissioner of
Police whose ears are on the ground, I will always abort such
gatherings.”
Reacting, the state government described Mbu’s claim as a fabrication aimed at justifying police nefarious activities.
A statement by the Chief of Staff in the
Rivers Government House, Chief Tony Okocha, described Mbu and the state
police command as liars.
PUNCH
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