Since Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State accused operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad of being behind the spate of crimes in the state, the police high command has refused to act, Ugo Aliogo reports
Since Governor Nyesom Wike of Rivers State raised the alarm that operatives of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad were responsible for the spate of crime of the state, the police high command has refused to act.
Wike, stirred the hornets’ nest recently when he accused the state’s Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Nigeria Police of being behind the series of kidnapping and armed robbery incidents in the state. The governor alleged that SARS Commander, Mr. Akin Fakorede, and his operatives had been indicted by an official police signal, which indicated that they were responsible for the series of kidnapping and deadly robbery incidents across the state.
The governor further alleged that the SARS commander was planted in the state to sabotage the security architecture of Rivers and create an atmosphere of fear. He specifically said the criminal activities of Fakorede were uncovered by the Inspector General of Police X Squad, Abuja, deployed in the state after the team busted the attempted kidnap of one Mr. Azumana Ifeanyi on September 11, 2017 at the GRA, Port Harcourt.
He said: “Most of the kidnappings and armed robbery taking place in this state are done by men of SARS. They use exhibit vehicles to operate. As the Chief Security Officer of the state, you complain, but they choose to play politics with crime. They fight crime in some states, but they refuse to fight crimes in Rivers State. We are done with the elections, but they are using SARS to create insecurity in the state. As I speak with you, they will deny.
But the SARS operative, who was killed, was among those who raided the Rivers East senatorial district collation centre. This man can be identified in the video as one of those who invaded the collation centre with Fakorede.â€
The governor alleged that the deliberate acts of violence being perpetrated by the police had been planned as part of the rigging process for 2019. He maintained that his administration had invested more than any other state in security, logistics and lamented that the police were working against the state.
“I have never seen a country where they politicise crime. It is very obvious that they want to give the impression that Rivers State is unsafe. They want to instill fear preparatory to the elections. That is why there are so much killings. Authorities deliberately trying to destroy a whole state and you want the people to be happy. I will no longer write (to the IG). Now is the time to take my case to the public for the whole world to know what is happening,†Wike added.
Two days after Wike made the allegation, when journalists cornered the IG, Ibrahim Idris, in Abuja and sought his views, he dismissed the governor’s alleggation rather than promising to investigate the allegation.
The reaction of Idris was not a surprise to many indigenes of the state who have noticed the way he has been playing politics with security in the state since his assumption of office.
Many indigenes of the state are of the view that if Wike were an APC-led governor, Fakorede would have long been transferred out of his state. They wonder why a police officer should be left in a particular state for so long a time in an area especially when the level of crime in the state is on the increase.
Prior to his assumption of office in 2015, Wike had bitterly complained about the alleged criminal activities of two police officers namely Fakorede and Steven Hasso. The governor said he had knowledge of their recruitment by the APC to compromise security in the state and rig the 2015 elections in the state in favour of the APC. He called on the IG to transfer these men out of the state.
Following allegation by election observers and civil society organizations that the police were involved in security breaches and electoral malpractices, the governor again demanded the transfer of these men out of the state. When the police ignored his directive and also refused to investigate the allegations despite repeated killings in the state, the governor led leaders and members of the PDP in a protest march to the state commissioner of police on December 15, 2016. Since then, the spate of crime in the state has tripled with killings, kidnapping, robberies always in the news.
In the build up to the rerun legislative elections in the state in March and December 2016, the governor had accused the SARS Commander of plotting to rig elections in favour of the APC. The IGP refused to act, suggesting a handicap. Truly, at the Rivers East senatorial district election collation centre, Fakorede brutally assaulted the INEC returning officer at the Port Harcourt City Council (collation centre). The incident was captured on video and shown to the whole world by Channels TV. Despite the repeated alarm, nothing was done by the police high command to transfer the SARS Commander out of the state because, according to him, he was doing the bidding of the APC. For this reason, the evidence did not move the police chiefs as they said the police officers caught on camera were not Nigeria police. Since then every effort made to investigate the issue and bring him to justice was resisted by the police high command.
THISDAY investigation revealed that Fakorede has been in the state since 2009. Before then, he had served in Cross River State where the state government on several occasions complained about his activities and mounted pressure for him to be transferred out of the state. Before he became SARS commander in Rivers State, it was learnt that he served as the Divisional Police Officer of Rumueprikom in Obio/Akpor LGA and later as OC Legal.
Thinking that the Supreme Court would nullify Wike’s election and rerun election conducted, Fakorede was immediately allegedly drafted to head SARS in September 2015. With the dream not realised, the SARS commander has been left to do order special assignments of the members of the APC.
Apart from Wike, since after the 2015 general election, many indigenes of the state have accused the Fakorede-led SARS of highhandedness, killings, robbing, kidnapping and extortion. They wonder why SARS commander would still be left in the state when over six commissioners of police have been transferred out of the state since 2015. It is believed that any commissioner who is determined to tackle crime in the state is promptly transferred, while the SARS commander is left untouched.
On September 11, 2017 SARS officials were alleged to have kidnapped one Mr. Azumana Ifeanyi and took him to the bank to withdraw the ransom of N500,000. Luck however ran out of them when the IG X-Squad men posted to check the excesses of police officers on duty, acting on a tip off, accosted the SARS kidnappers and in the process a SARS sergeant shot the X-Squad Inspector, Mr Justice Nyeche, who was unarmed and also killed one of their own, a SARS inspector. Despite the alarm raised by indigenes of the state, till date, nothing has happened. The SARS officers who were fingered in the kidnap and killing have been let off the hook.
This excesses of SARS is fuelling other cases of brutality by other police officers and their agents. For instance, during the rerun elections in December 2016, an APC chieftain, was suspected in the killing and beheading of DSP Alkali Mohammed of Mobile Police Unit 48 and his orderly but the police refused to act. Till date, nothing has been heard about the case. So it means that there are different laws for different people in Rivers State.
On September 25, 2017, a 42-year-old taxi driver, Mr. Ajibade Ademisoye, was killed by SARS officials at Rumuakunde Community in Emohua Town, and to cover the crime, the deceased was labelled a cult member. But eyewitness account contradicted the police’s claim.
This act of provocation led to protests across the area, which obstructed vehicular traffic and disrupted the economy of Emohua Local Government Area. Some of the protesting women stated that the SARS operatives after killing Ajibade, were dragging his remains into a nearby bush before passerby raised the alarm. It took the timely intervention of official of the local government council for the protest not to snowball into violence.
There was another case of a man where SARS officials allegedly recovered his stolen vehicle and refused to release same to the owner and were driving the vehicle round the streets of Port Harcourt because he refused to give them N500,000. This type of story is common across the state.
Many have argued that Rivers SARS has metamorphosed into the militant wing of the APC. They cannot imagine why the police high command has continued to ignore the complaints against the agency and its commander.
The police are expected to inspire confidence and treat people equally but this is not the case in Rivers State. Prior to the December rerun elections, on November 5, 2016 some persons including Comrade Atonye Peterside, Director of Help Mate Consult were arrested by the police while printing INEC election result sheets at 12, Isiokpo Street, D- Line, Port Hacourt. The matter was reported to the police. The police high command transferred the senior officer who handled the case out of Port Harcourt and transferred the case to Zone 6, Calabar from where the case was killed. Nothing has been heard about the case since.
Despite the fact that security is the responsibility of the federal government, the governor has continued to support security agencies in the state. So far, he has provided of 150 Hilux pick up vehicles fitted with communication equipment and six armoured personnel carriers at the cost of N200,000,000 each. He also gives diesel and financial support to the Army, the Navy, the Air Force and Department of State Security, on monthly basis. He has equally bought and handed over 10 armoured attack boats to the Navy, built houses for them. Yet the crime rate in the state is on the increase due to the activities of SARS operatives.
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The governor alleged that the deliberate acts of violence being perpetrated by the police had been planned as part of the rigging process for 2019.
