Inspector General of Police (IGP), Kayode Egbetokun, has instructed the Commissioner of Police in Rivers State to restore law and order following the recent arson attacks on several local government secretariats by hoodlums.
Egbetokun condemned the violent confrontations and destruction of government properties that occurred after police officers were withdrawn from the secretariats. His directive follows an earlier order from President Bola Tinubu, instructing the police to secure local government secretariats in Rivers State from vandals and arsonists.
In a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the police defended their actions during the recent local government elections in the state, clarifying that they acted according to court rulings. Adejobi explained that the police were initially barred from participating in the elections by a Federal High Court order in July 2024, which declared the elections unlawful. However, a subsequent Rivers State High Court order in September directed the police and other federal security agencies to provide security for the elections. The Federal High Court later nullified the elections on September 30, 2024, instructing the police to refrain from offering security during the process.
The IGP, after receiving legal advice from the Force’s legal section, ordered the Rivers State Police Command to abide by the Federal High Court’s ruling and communicated this decision to the Governor of Rivers State. The IGP also directed the unsealing of all local government secretariats in the state following the swearing-in of newly elected local government chairmen. The police had previously sealed these secretariats due to the violent dispute over control between outgoing elected chairmen and caretaker committees appointed by the state government.
Egbetokun condemned the violence that followed the reopening of the secretariats and tasked the state’s Commissioner of Police with ensuring the restoration of peace and order. He reaffirmed the Nigeria Police Force’s commitment to neutrality, law enforcement, and the preservation of democratic institutions, urging for restraint and decorum in political engagements.