Rivers Govt Decries Refusal of IG, PSC to Probe SARS

Ernest Chinwo in Port Harcourt
The Rivers State Government has frowned at the refusal of the Inspector-General of Police (IG), Ibrahim Idris, and the Police Service Commission (PSC) to investigate allegations against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in the state or transfer its Commander, Akin Fakorede (CSP), out of the state.

It accused the Fakorede-led SARS of engaging in kidnapping, armed robbery, extortion and extra-judicial killings, thereby becoming a nightmare for the people of the state.
Addressing journalists in Port Harcourt yesterday, the state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mr. Emma Okah, also accused the special security unit of being the armed wing of the All Progressives Congress (APC) for the purpose of winning the 2019 elections in the state.

Okah said: “Prior to the 2015 general election, there was a running battle between the then governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and current governor, Chief Nyesom Wike and the Nigerian Police over some of its officers.

“Our position that time was that there were two police officers, Steven Hasso and Akin Fakorede that were posted to Rivers State to work for the opposition party.
“Even after the general elections and the rerun elections, the Rivers State government has continued to have problems with Akin Fakorede, the Commander of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad. Our people are bitter and in tears over the atrocities committed against them by SARS.
“We want to draw the attention of President Muhammadu Buhari, fellow Nigerians and the international community on the atrocities of SARS in Rivers State. We are worried by the deliberate refusal of the IG and the Police Service Commission to transfer Fakorede out of Rivers State.

“Fakorede is running the armed wing of the (APC) in Rivers State. He is perfecting his strategies to rig the 2019 elections in the state in favour of the opposition APC. He intends to disorganise the security architecture of the state before the next general election.”
Okah noted that Fakorede had in television and radio programmes called for evidence of wrongdoing by his command.

The Information commissioner said, “We are here to give him the evidence. The first one is Mr. Akin Fakorede himself. On December 12, 2016, Fakorede with his men stormed the Rivers East INEC Collation Centre in Port Harcourt Local Government Council and beat up the Returning officer despite the cry from a woman who was also threatened. He also beat up the PDP Agent Mr. Chinyere Igwe then Commissioner for Urban Development and inflicted severe internal injuries on him.

This incident was recorded in video and shown to the whole world by Channels TV. When asked if he was the officer in that video, Fakorede said the matter was under investigation. Meanwhile, the Police high Command have since exonerated Fokerede saying that the men in the video are not Nigerian police officers. So which investigation are we waiting for?  Fakorede should answer the question with a yes or no option as such will not jeopardise any investigation. We complained but the IGP refused to act properly. Fakorede was given a pat on the back.

“Evidence No. 2: Earlier in March 2016 after the legislative rerun elections, operatives of SARS led by Fakorede  in company of Dr. Adol Dakuku Peterside, APC Candidate in the 2015 governorship election in Rivers State as well as other APC henchmen went to abduct the returning Officer and hijack the result sheets from Ikwerre and Emohua LGAS. SARS operatives opened fire near Omagwa airport roundabout and the pick-up van used by the returning officer was forced into the bush. We complained against this ugly action of SARS and Mr. Fakorede but as usual, nothing happened.
“It is important to note that the INEC had indicted the security agencies (SARS) for the crises – ridden elections in the State.

“Evidence No. 3: On 11th September, 2017, operatives of SARS  kidnapped one Azumana Ifeanyi and one of them dropped him at Fidelity Bank in GRA 2, Port Harcourt to withdraw N500,000.00 to save his life while others waited in his house. Acting on a tip off, the IGP’s X-Squad, picked the man from the bank and went to his house and met the SARS men waiting in battle readiness.

“Inspector Justice Nyeche who led the X-Squad was shot by a SARS Sergeant and in the process, the Sergeant also killed his Boss a SARS Inspector. The hunter became the hunted and pandemonium ensued. The remaining SARS officers ran away leaving their Inspector soaked in his own blood.

Arrests of the complainant and the X-Squad men were made and instead of SARS to own up and apologise, they accused the men of X-Squad of killing the SARS Inspector. They quickly produced shells as the ones they allegedly picked from the crime scene to incriminate the X-Squad team.
Unfortunately, the bullet shells came from guns that the X-Squad did not have.

The arrested men have since been released but where is the SARS sergeant who murdered the Inspector, albeit in error? No Charge has been pressed. Nobody has been reprimanded. When asked by Pressmen in Abuja about the Governor Nyesom Wike’s accusation that SARS was perpetrating crimes in Rivers State, the IGP dismissed the Governor, the Chief security officer as making noise.”
He also read out several other instances where the SARS had killed innocent persons and accused them of being cultists.

He added, “The social media and radio stations are full of complaints by the public. Since his radio appearance, and beyond what we already know, several persons have more startling revelations about the operations of SARS officers in Rivers State. The confidence exhibited by Mr. Akin Fakorede is borne out of the strange operational strategies he put in place to make SARS officers anonymous and difficult to identify especially by fear-gripped victims.
He lamented, “The situation is ugly. Politics has been injected into the blood vessels of Rivers politics. The state is affected and the Federal Government is not helping matters because Fakorede is working for APC.

“At the point where we are, the people of Rivers State live in recurring fear of SARS. Rivers State Government calls on the President of Nigeria, Nigerians and the International Community to investigate the activities of Mr. Akin Fakorede and ask him to leave Rivers State so that other officers can be posted to SARS in Rivers State. We want a professional SARS and not APC politicians bearing arms and wearing SARS uniforms.”