…No, I can’t withdraw your security, says CP
*’Governor only playing politics as election time approaches’
Ahead of the December 10, re-run legislative elections in Rivers State, Governor Nyesom Ezenwo Wike said the State Commissioner of Police had withdrawn majority of policemen providing security for him, just as he called the youths in the state to protect their votes.
In a swift reaction, the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Francis Odesanya, said it was not true that Policemen were withdrawn from the governor, assuring that policemen would go about their duties on the election day professionally.
Flagging off the reconstruction of the Igbo-Petche Road on Friday, Governor Wike said this deliberate security infraction orchestrated to intimidate him, will not succeed.
He said: “As I speak with you, the Commissioner of Police has withdrawn the security around me. It is God that will protect me.
“As a governor, the Commissioner of Police has the effrontery to withdraw my security. There is no limit to this kind of intimidation and impunity“.
He said despite the assault by the Commissioner of Police and the Security Agencies, nobody in Rivers State would be intimidated by the political antics of the police.
The governor claimed he had intercepted the security manual for the election to be used by Rivers State Police Command.
But according to the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Odesanya, policemen will go about their duties on the election day professionally.
He said it was not true that policemen were withdrawn from the governor, assuring also that “I have not withdrawn any of his policemen. How can I withdraw his policemen, who will now protect him. I can’t withdraw governor’s security now. How can I? You know politics is very close so you hear all kind of things,” he said.