In the past eleven months, no fewer than five assassination attempts have been made on the life of Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, who had earlier cried out that the new Commissioner of Police was posted to the state by the Inspector-General of Police, IGP, with a specific instruction to eliminate him.
Disclosing that “the first attempt to kill the Governor was made immediately after the Supreme Court verdict,” Commissioner for Information and Communication in the state, Dr Austin Tam-George said in one of the instances, two police officers were offered N150 million to carry out the dastardly act.
“It is no secret that the All Progressives Congress (APC) administration declared war on the government and people of Rivers State, soon after the party lost the governorship litigation at the Supreme Court in 2016,” he said on Monday.
He alleged that the opposition All Progressives Congress, APC, in the state declared a full scale war on the state government and the Rivers people immediately they lost the governorship litigation at the Supreme Court last year.
The commissioner went on to describe the recent denials by the Police that the governor’s life was at risk, as callous and insensitive.
The Force Public Relations Officer, FPRO, Jimoh Moshood, had on Sunday refuted claim that the IGP, Ibrahim Idris, ordered the state Police to kill Wike, pointing out that the Governor and his office were being protected by 221 police personnel.
He said in a statement: “There was no time, either recently or in the past, that the Inspector-General of Police gave an order or assignment to the Commissioner of Police of Rivers State or any police officer anywhere in the country to kill His Excellency, Barrister Nyesom Wike, the Executive Governor of Rivers State.
“His Excellency should put into cognisance national security and that of the people of Rivers State as against any personal, political or group interest, and resist the use of personal grudges, grouse and sentiment to attack the hard earned personality of the Inspector-General of Police to cast aspersion on the statutory roles of the Force in ensuring utmost protection of life and property of all Nigerians.”
According to the Police, the detachment protecting Wike included: an Aide-de-Camp, Chief Security Officer, Unit Commanders from the Special Protection and Counter-terrorism units, respectively, an escort commander, camp commander, administrative officer and 54 Inspectors of Police. The team also included 136 sergeants and 24 corporals.
“Obviously, the total number of 221 police personnel attached to the Governor of Rivers State is more than the strength of some Police Area Commands formation in some States of Nigeria.
“This is done to ensure optimum safety and protection of the Executive Governor of Rivers State,” he said.
But Tam-George recalled that the Rivers Governor’s Chief Security Officer was removed without any explanation, adding that the six police officers dismissed by the police in January played a key role in foiling the series of attempts to kill the governor.
He further alleged that after several attempts to assassinate Governor Wike failed, an offer of N150 million was made to two of the six dismissed police officers, to kill the Governor, but they declined.
“We call on the Interpol and the International Labour Organisation, ILO, to lead an independent inquiry into why those gallant and patriotic officers were dismissed from the Nigeria Police Force on spurious charges of misconduct.”
The commissioner also alleged that as part of its preparations to seize Rivers State in the 2019 elections, the APC-led Federal Government was already considering a range of “escalatory measures” against Wike and some key leaders in the state.