Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi,
has dared the State Commissioner of Police,
Mr. Joseph Mbu, to shoot him whenever he
embarks on a demonstration against him
(CP) and the Federal Government.
Mbu apparently placed a ban on any form of
demonstration, procession or rally by any person
or group of persons in the state and warned
anybody not to dare him on the directive.
But speaking on Tuesday when leaders and
people of Urashi Kingdom paid him a solidarity
visit at the Government House in Port Harcourt,
Amaechi vowed that he would be at the forefront
of the protest that would come up soon.
The governor said he had told traditional leaders
in the state to get ready for the demonstration
against Mbu over the police commissioner's
position on rallies and demonstrations.
Amaechi, who decried Mbu's attempt to stop the
people of Urashi from paying a solidarity visit to
him, said it was wrong for the police to have
harassed his supporters.
He said Rivers was now a police state following
the police attempt to stop people's movement by
blocking the entire Orashi region.
He said, "Another thing I will tell you is that we
are looking for a date we will demonstrate against
what the Federal Government and what the
Commissioner of Police are doing in Rivers State.
"We have told our chiefs to get ready. Once we
get a date, once we get people from overseas;
they are Nigerians; they will join us and we will
give you the date.
"I have told the CP (Mbu) to be ready to shoot
me, I will be in front. I will not seat here and wait
for you to match here and give me letter. Instead,
I will keep SSG here and then I will match down
with you people.
"Then I will give the SSG letter to give to the FG
so that if they want to shoot, they can shoot me
because we have a right to express our views.
You have the right to criticise me. I am not
particularly a good man. There is nobody that is a
perfect man in the world. Is there any?"
He, however, commended the people of Urashi
Kingdom for braving the odds to get to Port
Harcourt in spite of the attempt by the police to
stop them.
Insisting that every Nigerian had the right to
express his or her views, Amaechi argued that the
state police commissioner did not have the
powers to ban demonstration since it (protest)
was part of the people's fundamental human
rights.
He said, "You people are by far stronger than me.
I got a report yesterday very late at night that the
police had planned to stop you people. I was
thinking that once you see policemen, everybody
will run into his house.
"But you must learn how to use these things. You
should have recorded them so that you can show
to the world how much a tyrant our commissioner
of police is."
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