Gov. Amaechi asked me to release criminals – Commissioner of Police [READ]

The Commissioner of Police, Rivers State
Command, Mr. Dan Bature, has reacted to a
statement offered by the state governor, Mr.
Rotimi Amaechi, that the state police command
was exposing the governorship candidate of the All
Progressives Congress, Dr. Dakuku Peterside, to
possible assassination.
Speaking on Wednesday, March 18, 2015 Bature
said that Amaechi was accusing the police because
of their refusal to grant the state government’s
request to release criminals involved in cases of
murder.
Amaechi had in his earlier statement raised the
alarm over the plot by the Peoples Democratic
Party to assassinate Peterside. He also expressed
lack of confidence in the police in the state.
The governor had accused the police of conniving
with the PDP, saying while policemen attached to
APC members had been removed, those attached
to their counterparts in the PDP remained intact.
Bature explained that the police had merely
replaced the C4I operatives around Peterside
with men of the Special Protection Unit. “The
C4I is a special police unit created to combat
violent crimes in the state.” he said.
Bature added that he was surprised that Amaechi
could interpret that to mean withdrawal of police
protection for the APC governorship candidate.
He described Amaechi’s allegations as false,
baseless and delicate.
He said, “The Rivers State Police Command is
once again constrained to respond to the spurious
and wispy allegations against it and the false alarm
raised by His Excellency, Rt Hon. Chibuike
Amaechi, the Executive Governor of Rivers
State, to the effect that the Command exposes Hon.
Dakuku Peterside to danger by withdrawing
policemen attached to him, and unsubstantiated
killings and plan to arrest supporters of his party.
“It is strongly believed that the vituperations are
frustrating signs of the government’s inability to
pressure the Command to release hardened
criminals involved in heinous cases of murder,
deadly cult activities, unlawful firearms possession,
kidnappings and sundry acts of lawlessness that
ordinarily would have been charged to court, but
for the industrial action of the Rivers State
Judiciary.
“Redeployment of C4I Policemen from Hon.
Dakuku Peterside to their traditional duties of
fighting violent crimes and their immediate
replacement with the elite Special Protection Unit
has now been attributed to withdrawal of the
policemen attached to him.
“Cases of cultists-related clashes that sometime
resulted in deaths have suddenly been attributed to
killing of political party supporters. The alleged
killing of seven supporters of a political party is not
only unfounded as the Command has not received
such report.
“What a mathematical wonder! Six suspects
arrested and charged to court for unlawful
possessions of firearms have now become over 400
supporters of a political party in our custody.
“The allegation of the purported plan to arrest 307
leaders of a political party is nothing but a ruse to
whip up public sympathy. The Command has no
plan to arbitrarily arrest anybody. Anyone who is
not planning to cause or foster violence or breach
public peace has no cause to fear or raise false
alarm.”