Disband Rivers special police unit, Wike tells IGP

Chief Nyesom Wike

The governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party in Rivers State, Chief Nyesom Wike, has called on the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Suleiman Abba, to disband the special police unit known as C4I in the state before the March 28 presidential election.

Wike alleged that the special police unit was put in place by the state government to manipulate the forthcoming elections.

The PDP governorship candidate, who spoke in Port Harcourt when the Chairman of the National Human Rights Commission, Prof. Chidi Odinkalu, visited him at his campaign office, claimed that the C4I squad in connivance with the All Progressives Congress was responsible for an attempt to kill a member of his party identified as Ayella.

He explained that the C4I should be disbanded before the elections in the interest of peace.

Wike, who spoke a few days after PDP took similar position on the C4I, said the state governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, should be blamed for the political crisis in the state.

Wike added that the governor had frustrated the state judiciary and House of Assembly from performing their responsibilities.

“The governor has been buying AK-47 for some persons, but those who know how to buy guns should also know how to die first. Disband it (C4I) and bring it back after the elections,” he said.

The PDP governorship candidate, however, expressed surprise that the NHRC had not addressed the frustration the judiciary is passing through in the state.

Wike said, “You (NHRC) have to protect us; the less privileged like us. Mr. Chairman, you have a lot of work to do by looking into the activities of the governor who will soon be leaving office. It is certain that I will be taking over by May 2015. No amount of money can challenge that.”

Earlier, Odinkalu congratulated Wike for emerging as the state PDP governorship candidate, even as he condoled with the state for losing some of its people to political violence.

Odinkalu, who acknowledged that the country was facing economic and security challenges, expressed the need for the nation’s security assets not to be stretched further due to political violence.

But APC and the state police command had since responded to the allegations.

They said the C4I was specially set up to fight kidnapping.