Kayode Egbetokun, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), has ordered the immediate withdrawal of police personnel deployed to seal off the 23 Local Government Areas (LGAs) secretariats of Rivers State following the election and swearing in of new chairmen on Sunday.
This was made known in a statement issued on Monday by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) of the Rivers State Command, Grace Iringe-Koko.
The statement reads in part, “The newly deployed State Commissioner of Police, Bala Mustapha, conveyed the directives of the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, for the immediate withdrawal of all police personnel previously deployed to seal and safeguard the Local Government Secretariats in the state.”
The statement further disclosed that the development “is in line with the commitment of the Nigeria Police Force to ensure neutrality and the smooth functioning of democratic institutions.”
Recall that the secretariat was sealed in June as a result of the disagreement between the Caretaker Committee Chairmen (CTC) loyal to Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the immediate past local government chairmen, who were loyalists of Nyesom Wike, the former governor of Rivers State and the current minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
