Governor Amaechi Is My Boss, I Can’t Shoot Him -Rivers CP

Commissioner of police in Rivers State, Mr Mbu Joseph Mbu, has described Governor Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi as his “boss, friend, and brother”, saying that nothing will force him to shoot the governor. This is as the police commissioner reminded the people of the state that the ban on public protests and demonstrations without a written request and approval from his office, was still on.
We observed that Mbu’s reminder on the ban on public protests may not be unconnected with the plans by Amaechi to organise the people of the state on a protest match for the removal of the commissioner of police from the state.
Mbu, stated this yesterday while briefing journalists at the police command headquarters in Port Harcourt, on the successes recorded by the state police command since he assumed office as the commissioner of police in March this year.
The former Oyo State police chief blamed the media for aggravating the alleged face-off between him and Amaechi and using same to their own advantage.
He said, “Governor Amaechi is my friend, he is my brother and my boss. Yesterday, we spoke on phone for close to 30 minutes. I cannot shoot him. It is the press that is creating the problem between us to sell their papers. It is the press that is saying the governor will shoot me or I shoot him.”
Mbu expressed the belief that the governor, being the chief security officer of the state, knows and respects the rule of law and would never think of leading any kind of protest in the state.
The police commissioner said, “Nobody is above the law in Nigeria and I know that Governor Amaechi is not thinking towards that direction (leading a protest). He is the chief security officer of the state and I am his second-in-command. Anyway, until then, we will see.”
Insisting that the former leader of the dreaded Niger Delta Vigilante (NDV), Comrade Ateke Tom, was not a criminal as being alleged by some persons in the state, Mbu expressed his willingness to welcome the ex-militant leader any time he wishes to visit the police headquarters.
He said, “I have been hearing about Ateke Tom as an ex-militant, but I met him last Saturday, during the burial of the First Lady’s grandfather at Okrika. He came to greet me where I was sitting with the Brigade Commander and the SSS Director. When he left I asked who he is and they told me, Ateke.
“As far as I am concerned, Ateke is not a criminal. He is an ex-militant, who was granted presidential amnesty. If he wants to visit me, I will not stop him. But any day I identify him as an active militant, I will fight him.” [Leadership]