THE Rivers State Governor, Mr. Rotimi Amaechi, has called on the people of the state and Nigerians to fight for him and defend the mandate he holds in trust for them.
Amaechi explained that only the people could fight for him in a situation where the police had decided to work against him and threaten the authority given to him by them.
The governor was reacting to the roadblock mounted on Thursday by the police on Forces Avenue in Port Harcourt, a development that denied him access to the Government House for about 30 minutes.
Amaechi, who spoke through the State Commissioner for Information and Communication, Mrs. Ibim Semenitari, on Friday said he was duly elected by the people of the state and wondered why the police would display such impunity against him and the office of the governor.
He said, “We have said with the situation on ground, it is better to go to Nigerians, especially the people of Rivers to fight for us and defend the mandate of the governor.
“We know that the people of Rivers State and Nigerians in general will not disappoint us and that is one of the reasons why we have continued in our development strides in the state.”
Amaechi, who was visibly angry, had, on Thursday, accused the Presidency of being partly responsible for the development; but the Presidency in a swift reaction, on Friday, said President Goodluck Jonathan did not order the police to block the road.
The Special Adviser to the President on Political Matters, Ahmed Gulak, in an interview with one of our correspondents, said Jonathan had nothing to do with the incident.
Gulak, however, said the information available to him showed that the police decision was taken in good faith.
He advised the embattled governor to always listen to security advice that was given to him for his own good.
He said if Amaechi decided to stage-manage the incident to embarrass the President, he had failed in his bid because Nigerians were wiser.
The presidential aide said, “Mr. President has nothing to do with that incident. He has nothing to do with the day-to-day running of the police.
“What we were told was that there are two gates leading to the Government House. One of the gates is for the governor and others while the second gate is for the governor only. It is meant to be an escape route for him.”
A reliable security source told one of our correspondents that the policemen that cordoned off Forces Avenue were directed to prevent access to the newly opened secretariat of the New People’s Democratic Party.
The directive, it was learnt, followed intelligence reports that the building was under threat of attack by a rival group.
The source, who pleaded anonymity, noted that there would have been serious bloodbath and loss of lives if security personnel had not acted promptly by blocking Forces Avenue.
He said, “The whole world would have blamed the police if we did nothing to prevent the factional secretariat from being attacked, but we rose up to the occasion and prevented an attack on the office only for the governor to attempt a breach of the security put in place to secure lives and property; Even President Obama won’t dare breach a police cordon.”
When contacted on Friday, the Force Public Relations Officer, Frank Mba declined speaking, saying the situation involving the governor and policemen had been addressed by the Rivers State Police Public Relations Officer.
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