The Rivers State Police Command has released a public statement criticizing the chief of staff to Governor Rotimi Amaechi, Tony Okocha, for allegedly giving false information in the aftermath of the contentious Save Rivers rally.
Okocha claimed the officers who allegedly shot Senator Magnus Abe were arrested, but the police statement said the claim was misleading.
In a statement signed by the public relations officer, Ahmed Mohammed, the command stated that two security personnel were arrested by the the police on the day of the incident but were not connected to the alleged shooting.
He said: “Those arrested were a corporal of the Nigerian Police and a personnel of the Department of State Security Service both attached to the Chief of Staff who, rather than sticking to their assigned roles, went out of their ways to carry out the unprofessional job of spying for the Chief of Staff.”
The statement disclosed that the two men arrested concealed a service pistol and walkie-talkie radio respectively and tried to infiltrate into the midst of officers and men officially assigned to the venue of the failed rally.
Mohammed also disputed the claims by the Chief of Staff that Senator Magnus Abe was flown abroad in an Air Ambulance.
He said: “This is another hulla-balloo story because the Senator travelled by Air France, and was indeed, the number one on the manifest. Members of the press can investigate this independently and see between the angle of the Rivers State Government and Rivers State Police Command who has, all along been trying to fool the public.”
The police disclosed that the chief of staff and local government chairmen have been holding closed door meetings allegedly planing on how to disrupt the peace of the state by employing the services of unemployed youths to cause trouble in the state and Nigeria at large.
The police has however warned against peoples involvement in these criminal acts, stating that if caught, will face the law.
“Their sponsors will equally be tracked down, arrested and charged to Court on treasonable grounds,” he said.
