Police urge Rivers to cancel planned protests NULGE

Police in Rivers State have warned against hijacking a planned protest rally by the Nigerian Local Government Employees Union following the closure of 23 local government council secretariats in the state.

Earlier, the Association of Local Government of Nigeria had accused the former chairmen of the local governments and the 27 MPs led by Martin Amaewhule and loyal to the Minister of the National Capital Territory, Nyesom Wike, of conspiring to stage a protest rally.

In a statement released on Sunday evening by police spokesperson Grace Iringe-Koko, police called on NULGE to suspend the planned strike to avoid a breakdown of law and order.

The security service said the police would do everything possible to protect the lives and property of the people of Rives, but announced that they would arrest and prosecute any person or group attempting to disturb the peace.

The statement said: “The Command recognises and respects the right of lawful assembly but has credible intelligence that this protest could be infiltrated and hijacked by hoodlums bent on creating unrest and chaos in the state.

“Consequently, the command strongly advises the organizers to cancel the planned protest in order to prevent a possible breakdown of law and order.

“The police will take all necessary legal action to protect the lives and properties of all residents of Rivers State. The command has vowed to arrest and prosecute any person or group attempting to disturb the peace.

“In order to ensure the safety of the public, the Rivers State Police Commissioner, Olatunji, has deployed police officers to the secretariats of all 23 local government areas of the state. These officers will remain at their respective locations until the threat of disturbance of the peace is deemed to have passed.”

In a separate development, the Rivers chapter of ALGON has informed security agencies, particularly the police, the Rivers State Government and the general public of the consequences of the planned protest by the former local government chairmen and former members of the House of Representatives and National Assembly in the state.

In a press conference in Port Harcourt on Sunday, ALGON Chairman Ichemati Ezebunwo warned that the protests were a sinister plot to create anarchy and chaos to destabilise the government and provide a pretext to implement the planned state of emergency in the state.

Ezebunwo said: “We draw the attention of the public to the planned protests by the outgoing local government chairmen, former members of the House of Representatives and the National Assembly loyal to the Minister of the National Capital Territory, Chief Nyesom Wike. The protests are against the Nigeria Police Force occupying the 23 local governments across the state.

“The planned protest is not in the interest of the local governments and the state as a whole. Rather, it is a calculated attempt by the enemies of our beloved state to paint the people of the state in a bad light, unleash chaos in the process and use this to further bolster their exaggerated call for the declaration of a state of emergency in our beloved state.

He stated: “We strongly state that we, the members of the Association of Local Governments of Nigeria, Rivers State Chapter, and our people support the decision of the police to take control and protect all local government secretariats until further instructions are given on the matter.”