PDP Crisis: Rivers police bar Amaechi from Government House

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.