The police mounted a roadblock at a Government House entrance, forcing Governor Amaechi to take a longer route.
In a move that added a new dimension to the political crisis in Rivers state and the Peoples Democratic Party, the police on Thursday night denied Governor Rotimi Amaechi entrance to the Government House through an alternate route to the compound.
The governor was returning to the Government House after a political meeting with members of the ‘New PDP’ with dozens of supporters, including visiting ex-speakers of the state’s assembly, when they met the roadblock.
The heavily armed police officers ordered the governor and his supporters to turn around even after the governor alighted from his car to physical identify himself.
The leader of the squad that carried out the operation called the governor’s bluff saying he does not take orders from civilians, Ibim Semenitari, the state’s information commissioner later said.
The blocked route is the shortest to the governor’s official residence from the venue of the event he attended, witnesses said.
The governor, apparently embarrassed, avoided confrontation with the police officers to take a longer route to his private residence inside the Government House.
The incident came hours after the Rivers state police dispersed supporters of the ‘New PDP’ at a venue where they had gathered to open an office. The building was later sealed by the police.
The route the governor was barred on was earlier blocked during the sealing off of the ‘New PDP’ office along that road.
The State Police Public Relations Officer, Angela Agabe, denied it blocked the governor from entering the Government House.
She said police officers only dispersed “hoodlums” from the New PDP Secretariat earlier that day.
The governor of a state in Nigeria is the chief security officer of the state and has the highest authority within the territory. Critics have condemned the blockade saying it undermines the Nigerian constitution and encourages impunity and may lead to anarchy in the state.
Mr. Amaechi’s political allies have also condemned the blockade. Former vice president, Atiku Abubakar, the leader of the ‘New PDP’ condemned the blockade through his twitter handle shortly after the news broke.
For a state governor to be overruled by policemen acting on “orders from above” is too sad. Who is above the governor in his state?
— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) September 12, 2013
Little by little, democracy and the rule of the law are being dismantled in the country before our very eyes
— Atiku Abubakar (@atiku) September 12, 2013
The River state governor is embroiled in a long standing battle with both President Goodluck Jonathan and his wife, Patience, and the police in his state.
The police commissioner in the state, Joseph Mbu, and Mr. Amaechi have remained largely antagonistic of each other.
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