Just In: IGP orders immediate withdrawal of personnel from Rivers LGAs after 3-month siege

The Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has ordered the immediate withdrawal of police personnel previously deployed to seal off the 23 local government areas of Rivers State.

The secretariat were sealed in June following the disagreement between the Caretaker Committee Chairmen loyal to Governor Siminalayi Fubara and the immediate past local government chairmen, who were loyalists of Nyesom Wike, Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).

This directive was announced on Monday in a statement by Grace Iringe-Koko, the Public Relations Officer of the Rivers State Command. According to the statement, the order follows recent political developments in Rivers State. “The newly deployed State Commissioner of Police, Bala Mustapha, conveyed the directives of the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, for the immediate withdrawal of all police personnel previously deployed to seal and safeguard the Local Government Secretariats in the state.”

The statement emphasized that the decision “is in line with the commitment of the Nigeria Police Force to ensure neutrality and the smooth functioning of democratic institutions.”

It further clarified that personnel will only be redeployed to those areas if there was a crisis or breakdown of law and order, at which point emergency measures would be swiftly implemented to restore normalcy. The Rivers State Command assured the public of its continued commitment to maintaining peace and order across the state, while reiterating its professional conduct in carrying out its duties. Residents and stakeholders were urged to remain calm and law-abiding as the situation unfolds.