CLO petitions Buhari to investigate Wike’s assassination allegation against IGP

The Rivers State Chairman of the Civil Liberties Organisation, CLO, Mr. Sotonye George, has sent a petition to President Muhammadu Buhari, asking him to set up a commission of inquiry to investigate the allegation made by the Governor of Rivers State, Barrister Nyesom Wike, that the current Commissioner of Police, Rivers State Command, CP Ahmed Zaki, was deployed to the state to eliminate him.

Mr. Tam-George said in Port Harcourt, Tuesday, that the allegation against the Police High Command was too weighty to be ignored.

He said: “We are joining all well-meaning citizens of the country to ask President Muhammadu Buhari to set up a commission of inquiry made up of other security agencies as well as the Department of State Security, DSS, to carry out an independent investigation into Governor Wike’s allegations against the IGP.”

Continuing, he said: “The president should please set up a panel to properly investigate the governor’s allegation and come out with a proper report. The governor’s allegation should be viewed seriously. It is not a matter that should be treated with kid gloves. We need an independent panel to look into this matter so that we can have peace in Rivers State.”

Governor Wike, over the weekend, had accused the Police High Command of plotting to eliminate him using the Rivers state commissioner of police, CP Ahmed Zaki.

Reacting to the allegation, the Nigeria Police Force had dismissed the allegation describing it as malicious, saying it was capable of misleading and causing disaffection between the NPF and the people of Rivers State.

The Force spokesman, Jimoh Moshood, had stressed that “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, Rivers State or any police officer anywhere in the country to kill Mr. Nyesom Wike, the Executive Governor of Rivers State or directs the Commissioner of Police, Rivers State to cage the governor as alleged.

“It is incumbent on the Nigeria Police Force to educate the general public and draw the attention of the governor to the facts and figures available for press and members of the public to verify, that there are 221 police personnel attached currently to Governor Nyesom Wike for his personal and office protection,” the police spokesman said.

Meanwhile the Rivers state commissioner for Information, Dr Austin Tam –George, has on Tuesday made a startling allegation that the state governor had survived five assassination attempts in eleven months.

The commissioner alleged: “It is no secret that the APC government 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 that the first attempt to kill the governor was made immediately after the Supreme Court verdict, adding that the governor’s Chief Security Officer was removed without any explanation, and that the six police officers dismissed by the Police in January this year played a key role in foiling the series of attempts to kill Wike.

According to one of the commissioner’s allegations, after several failed attempts, two out of the six dismissed police details of the governor were given an incentive of N150million to eliminate him. He said that the police officers rejected the offer.

Meanwhile the Police Headquarters and the Rivers state Police Command are yet to react to the latest allegation by the state commissioner of Information.