There was tension in Rivers State on Friday as policemen took over 22 out of the 23 local government council secretariats in the state.Security operatives had in the morning blocked entrances to the council secretariats across the state; an action that came barely 24 hours after a Federal High Court in Port Harcourt nullified the election of 22 council chairmen.
It was, however, gathered that the policemen, who were heavily armed, were acting on the orders of the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Solomon Arase.
At the Port Harcourt Local Government Secretariat, scores of policemen blocked the entrance to the council with Hilux vans, making easy access difficult for local government workers.
Governor Nyesom Wike had on Thursday evening, sworn in new caretaker committee chairmen, directing them to resume work immediately to prevent having any vacuum in government.
But the heavy presence of policemen in most of the local government headquarters prevented the caretaker committee chairmen from resuming in their offices.
The sacked chairmen, who were elected on the platform of the All Progressives Congress in the state, were said to have disagreed with the court ruling that nullified their election.
But the State Police Public Relations Officer, Mr. Ahmad Mohammad, told our correspondent that the police decided to block the council secretariats in order to forestall any breakdown of law and order ostensibly by the sacked chairmen and the newly sworn-in council leaders.
Mohammad described the action of the police as a proactive measure to ensure that lives and property were protected.
Meanwhile, the State APC has rejected the judgement delivered by Justice Lambo Akanbi of the Federal High Court in Port Harcourt, sacking the 22 elected council chairmen in the state.
In a swift reaction, Wike condemned the action of the police while addressing members of the newly inaugurated Rivers State Judicial Service Commission and the Rivers State Independent Electoral Commission.
Also, the national leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party had demanded that the police vacate the local government councils immediately.
The party described the alleged barring of caretaker committee chairmen appointed by the state government from accessing the LG secretariats as “unconstitutional.”
PDP National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, in a statement in Abuja on Friday, said the action of the police was an affront to the ruling of the High Court, which on Thursday dissolved the local government councils.
Metuh said, “It was curious that the police allowed the dissolution of local government councils and appointment of caretaker committees in APC-controlled Plateau and Kaduna states, even when they were without the orders of the court, but elected to clamp down on that of Rivers State, which came as a result of a judicial pronouncement.”
