The Rivers State Police Command has refuted allegations that its officers intentionally targeted Governor Siminalayi Fubara during his recent visit to the House of Assembly complex in Port Harcourt on Monday.
Fubara had claimed that certain police officers fired tear gas and employed water cannons against him and his entourage as they headed to the assembly in response to reports of arson.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Grace Iringe-Koko, the spokesperson for the Rivers State police, explained that the anti-protest officers deployed to safeguard the House of Assembly complex from further attacks were unaware of the governor’s presence within the approaching crowd.
She said, “Following the receipt of credible intelligence reports on the intention of some armed group of persons to cause mayhem, particularly at the House of Assembly complex, armed police operatives were deployed.
“The Deputy Commissioner of Police in charge of Operations (DC Ops) deployed the operatives going by the previous case of arson on the assembly building.
“The DC Ops personally supervised (the police operatives) to intercept the `hoodlums’ and to ensure the protection of lives and property within the assembly facility and its environs.”
Iringe-Koko added that during the operation, protesting youths numbering more than 100 were at the entrance of the assembly complex, and conducted themselves in a manner likely to cause a breach of the peace.
“This led the police to deploy non-lethal crowd control equipment including teargas and water cannon to disperse the riotous and uncontrollable protesters.
“Some minutes later, another aggressive group of people approached the entrance of the complex and advanced toward the premises.
“The police, therefore, engaged them in a like manner but observed that Gov. Siminalayi of Rivers State, was in their midst,’’ she stated.
The police spokesperson added that on realising the governor was among the crowd of persons approaching the assembly building, the DC Ops immediately ordered his men to stand down and give the governor access.
“It is pertinent to state that the police did not deliberately attack the governor, or even attempt to hurt anyone, let alone the Chief Executive and Chief Security Officer of the state.
“It is our most essential role to protect the governor, and as such, the news being peddled in some sections of the media is a misrepresentation.
“The presence of the governor at the scene was of great surprise and shock as there was no prior communication to the police about his visit to the scene,” Iringe-Koko stressed.
