The Police in Rivers State may be preparing for a showdown with the State Government, as Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mukan called on Governor Nyesom Wike to handover former Managing Director of the Niger Delta Development Commission, Joy Nunieh, to him.
Wike had raced to Nunieh’s residence along with some of his security details on Thursday to rescue her from security operatives who claimed they had orders to arrest her.
The governor who fumed that the security operatives had no arrest warrant took Nunieh under protective custody in Government House, Port Harcourt.
But briefing newsmen at his office in Port Harcourt Friday, Mukan called on the governor to handover Nunieh to him, noting that the latter was under investigation.
He further said that the policemen from the Inspector General of Police Monitoring Unit were endorsed by the Rivers State Police Command before proceeding to the residence of the ex-NDDC boss.
The Command further said the exercise was legitimate and in tandem with the law, decrying the action of the governor as unfortunate.
“It is really unfortunate because under normal circumstance if His Excellency (Wike) is saying that he went to rescue her, he is supposed to turn her over to me because I am the Commissioner of Police on ground and I will be in a better position to take her than for him to take her to Government House.
“Nobody said he should not protect his citizens, but everything should be done within the confines of the law.
“So if you rescue your citizen, we expect you to turn her over to the police who are in a better position to protect her. I still believe he is going to turn her over because the exercise was legitimate. It was within the confines of the law.”
PUNCH
