Amaechi protests as police block Govt House road

The frosty relationship between the police and
the government of Rivers State degenerated
yesterday, with some officers blocking a major
road that leads to the Government House.
Governor Rotimi Amaechi and a group of
former Speakers were returning to the
Government House after a tour of projects
when they found the road barricaded with
police vans.
The policemen claimed to be acting on the
instruction of Commissioner of Police Mbu
Joseph Mbu, who has been at loggerheads with
Amaechi.
The convoy of about seven vehicles, including
two buses in which the governor and the
former speakers rode, was stuck for close to
25 minutes, The Nation learnt.
Several efforts were made to persuade the
police to allow the vehicles pass through. They
refused to.
One of the policemen got angry, saying he
would not be challenged by civilians, it was
learnt.
Three police vans were parked across the road
and all residents of the Old GRA street could
not drive in or out of the area.
The governor, who was dressed in a white shirt
and a pair of white trousers and shoes, walked
up to the spot where the three vans were
parked across the road. He said: “You can see
for yourself that we cannot go to the
Government House through this road on the
instruction of the President and the
Commissioner of Police.”
Eventually, the convoy took another route to
get into the Government House.
Earlier yesterday, Amaechi had received
President Goodluck Jonathan at the
International Airport and planned to meet with
him later in the day.
The President was visiting nearby Bayelsa State.
There were 102 former Speakers in the convoy.
Among them was former Lagos Speaker
Olorunnibe Mamora, who was shocked by the
police action.
Mamora said: “It is quite unfortunate; it is an
act of impunity and overzealousness on the
part of the police.”
The barricaded road leads to Braithwaite
Memorial Specialist Hospital, which doubles as
the General Hospital.
The police denied blocking the Government
House’s entrance.
Spokesperson Angela Agabe, a DSP, told the
News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Port
Harcourt: “I am aware that the commissioner
of police did not give such an order to block
the entrance leading to the governor’s
residence.
“He did not do it and did not instruct our
officers to do such a thing.’’
But, Mrs Ibim Semenitari, the Commissioner
for Information and Communication, insisted
that Amaechi and no fewer than 70 visitors
were denied access to his private residence in
the Government House.
“The governor was coming back with his
visitors, former speakers of Houses of
Assembly; he was blocked on his way into the
Government House, leading to his private
entrance.
“The police blocked the road, the governor
came down and identified himself, but they
told him they had orders from the
commissioner of police.
“Governor Amaechi, therefore, had to go
through a longer route to get to the
Government House,’’ Semenitari said.
Semenitari described the action of the police
as illegal, unconstitutional, and an insult to the
office of the governor.