Kayode Egbetokun, the inspector general of police, has ordered his men to continue taking over all the local government secretariats in Rivers state amid tense political tensions.
Egbetokun lamented the political crisis in Rivers and maintained that the police would remove the barricades at the local government secretariats as soon as the court gave its judgment.
According to The Punch, the police boss disclosed this while addressing journalists on the sideline of his meeting with senior police officers and commissioners in Abuja on Thursday, June 21.
Egbetokun maintained that the police would not leave the local government secretariats until the court decided on the controversy surrounding the tenure extension of the local government chairmen in the state.
He said the security operatives’ presence at the secretariats was to ensure peace and order, not to intimidate anyone.
He then reiterated that the Nigeria Police Force is committed to preemptive measures to forestall peace and de-escalate violence by any legal means.
The police boss then lamented the loss of an inspector in the violence in the oil-rich state, saying it was a sad moment and that the force was not ready to lose more of its men.
His statement reads in part:
“We don’t want to lose more Nigerians. We don’t want to lose more citizens of Rivers State. So, we have a duty to prevent the breakdown of law and order.”
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