Respite may have finally come to Rivers State as yesterday, the federal government succumbed to public outcry for the redeployment of the state’s commissioner of police, CP Mbu Joseph Mbu. Mbu was moved to the FCT.
The redeployment was made known in two separate statements from both the Police Service Commission (PSC) and the Force headquarters, which were signed by the PSC assistant director of press Mr Ferdinand Ekpe for the commission and CSP Frank Mba for the Force Headquarters.
While the PSC statement disclosed only 13 redeployed CPs, the Force Headquarters’ statement said that the IGP had ordered the redeployment of 23 CPs and 13 deputy commissioners of police.
Other redeployed CPs include CP Ambrose Aisabo, redeployed to Kwara State; Felix Uyanya to Ekiti State; Johnson Ogunsaki, moved to Rivers State; Abdulmajid Ali, redeployed to Imo State and Benjamin Onwuka, moved to Kebbi State.
CP Ibrahim Maishanu was redeployed to Osun State, Adamu Ibrahim redeployed to Abia State, Aderenle Shinaba redeployed to Kano State, Umaru Shehu redeployed to Kaduna State, A.J Abakasanga redeployed to Adamawa, Kalafite Adeyemi redeployed to Taraba State and Mr Ibrahim Idris redeployed to Nasarawa State. Ten other CPs were redeployed to formations across the country.
Mbu landed in the eye of the storm when he was accused of plotting to assassinate the Rivers State governor Chief Rotimi Amaechi, following the governor’s perceived altercation with the wife of the president, Dame Patience Jonathan.
The CP was also accused of doing the bidding of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party, when he reportedly clamped down on every attempt of supporters of the governor to hold peaceful protests, while giving approval for pro-PDP rallies.
CP Mbu was accused of taking sides in the crisis rocking the political scene in Rivers State and has been at loggerheads with the state government, which had accused the police boss of being partisan with regards to State politics.
He allegedly ordered his operatives to fire teargas and rubber bullets at protesters under the auspices of the Save Rivers Campaign. During one of such incidents, a serving senator was allegedly injured.
The All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Rivers State governor, Rotimi Amaechi, have consistently called for the removal of Mr Joseph Mbu, accusing him of being used to frustrate the state’s government and the emergence of the APC in the Niger-Delta State.
The chairman of the PSC Sir Mike Okiro and the inspector general of police, Mohammed Abubakar said the posting was part of strategic efforts to reposition the Force for improved efficiency and better service delivery.
Stakeholders React To Mbu’s Redeployment
Meanwhile, stakeholders in Rivers State have reacted to the news of the redevelopment of the State Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu, out of the state.
In his own reaction, the Chief of Staff, Government House, Port Harcourt, Chief Tony Okocha, said posting in the Nigeria Police Force is done as a matter of routine.
Okocha said; “I may decide to go to church and thank God. We are relieved to hear that he has been transferred from Rivers State.”
The Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the state, Chief Felix Obuah, noted Mbu’s redeployment was in line with the routine posting of security personnel.
Obuah said; “Mbu is a very thorough professional police officer and he deserves his master’s recommendation. He demonstrated during his brief stay in Rivers State that he is a disciplined professional police officer. We wish him well in his new posting.”
In his reaction, former Chairman of the defunct Action Congress of Nigeria (ACN) in the state, Barrister Uche Okwukwu, said the removal of Mbu from Rivers State was long expected but my worry is that the police is an institution.
Okwukwu said it was likely that the Police High Command would post someone who is worst than the outgoing Commissioner of Police to take his place.
He said; “What Rivers State needs now is an amiable, dignified and disciplined police officer because of the ethnic and political complexity of the state.”
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