Rerun: Rivers people won’t take part in police probe, says Wike
*Calls probe a trap
The governor of Rivers State Governor, Chief Nyesom Ezenwo Wike, has declared that the government and people of the state would never participate in the probe panel instituted by the Police Headquarters to investigate the audio tape allegedly indicting him of threat to lives of electoral officers and electoral malpractice.
Governor Wike who spoke at the Victory Thanksgiving Mass of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, at Our Lady Chaplaincy of the Catholic Institute of West Africa for a successful rerun/supplementary elections, said that the “Police cannot deliberately murder Rivers people in cold blood and turn around to investigate.”
He further declared that the probe on the rerun elections has a predetermined goal aimed at indicting PDP members in order to commence “their politically motivated
“We are not a party to their so-called panel. We have passed that stage and we cannot fall into the trap of a panel of inquiry. After killing our people, you want us to assist you unravel what? It is the police that killed our people,” he contended.
Governor Wike wondered why the police would claim it wanted to investigate issues surrounding the Rivers Rerun Elections, when it was allegedly one of the interested parties involved in the attempt to subvert the will of the people.
He pointed out that it was the Police High Command that refused to prosecute the APC chieftains allegedly caught on camera printing fake result sheets ahead of the elections, adding that petitions to the command on the “negative activities of ACP Steven Hasso and the Commander of Special Anti-Robbery Squad, Mr Akin Fakorede were disregarded.”
Further more, the governor noted that even when Akin Fakorede was “videoed beating up electoral officers at the Rivers East Senatorial District Collation centre, the police swept it under the carpet.”
He stated: “If it is a country that believes in its image, so many people would have lost their jobs. They cannot ask themselves why 28,000 policemen, yet to be ascertained number of soldiers, Police Dogs and Horses, gunboats, and helicopters could not police ordinary legislative elections.
“It is because the police were the ones committing the fraud, violence and election materials snatching. We are accusing the police of mass murder and they turn around to set up a panel of inquiry.
“After killing our people, you fraudulently set a panel of inquiry. Up till now they don’t know that we are far ahead. This panel is a mere booby trap to indict PDP Members. If they cared about lives, they wouldn’t do what they did,” he said. .
The governor said that Rivers State survived the alleged onslaught of the “Federal Might” because of God’s grace and intervention. “We are here to thank God for the victory he has given Rivers State. We came out from a battle and God was our leader during the fight. We owe God a lot”, he concluded.
Last Friday the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, raised a team of detectives and experts to conduct a thorough investigation into the audio tape released by Sahara Reporters in which the online medium claimed that the voice in the tape was that of Wike threatening to kill some INEC officials if they failed to rig the election in favour of PDP candidates.
According to the statement released by the Force spokesman, Don Awunah, the panel was mandated to conduct forensic analysis on the audio report and also look into the statement of the INEC chairman, Prof. Yakubu Mahmud, which alleged that there were 70 incidents that tended to derail the December 10, 2016, re-run elections in Rivers State.
In the statement, the police said: “The Government of Rivers State and INEC are enjoined to avail the investigative team with facts at their disposal and grant them the desired cooperation and assistance to achieve a comprehensive and conclusive investigation.”
Governor Wike had earlier denied the content of the tape, describing it as a contrived audio clip being sponsored by the All Progressives Congress, APC, produced to divert public attention from the alleged massive electoral fraud by INEC, Police, and Military killings that marred the rerun elections.
He said that the audio clip was fabricated using audio software, pointing out that he never spoke with any electoral officer or anyone for that matter, either in person or over the phone seeking to influence the elections.
