Saturday Mirror learnt from competent police sources that the presidency had intervened in the redeployment exercise, directing that Mr. Mbu be brought to the FCT Police Command.
“His current posting is not far from the outcry generated by his activities in Rivers State, especially his continued altercation with the state governor, Rotimi Amaechi.
“I can tell you that he would have been given another lucrative posting, maybe, to a state like Lagos but it is also an APC-controlled state and there were reports that his posting to Lagos might be met with stiff resistance and even ignite a sponsored street protests,” said the top police source who said he was not authorised to speak on the issue.
When contacted, Assistant Director Press and Public Relations in the Police Service Commission, Ferdinand Ekpe, also said the commission did its job based on the recommendation of the IGP who is well aware of the operations and capability of the officers under him.
He said the Commission was not in receipt of any petition regarding the activities of Mr. Mbu in Rivers State or calling for his redeployment.
According to the Inspector General of Police IGP, Mohammed Abubakar, the CP’s redeployment is a normal routine in the force and not based on any partisan consideration.
“It was strictly based on the recommendations of the IGP as an ‘operations’ manager. He made the recommendations and we approved. “It was not as if the commission received any petition against CP Mbu”, said Ekpe. Twelve other Commissioners of Police were also redeployed in various commands based on the recommendations of Mr. Abubakar while another 10 were redeployed in non-command positions. Mbu has now been replaced with the former Commissioner of Police in charge of the Special Fraud Unit SFU, Johnson Ogunsakin. The APC had accused President Goodluck Jonathan of conniving with Mr. Mbu to undermine the authority of the Governor of Rivers State, Rotimi Amaechi. It alleged that the only reason the impunity in Rivers State could have continued unabated was because it was a dress rehearsal for what to expect in 2015.
The party had stated: “Mbu who is going down in Nigeria’s history as a classic example of an officer of the law turned the biggest violator of the law, has not only defied the resolutions of the National Assembly, he has also thumbed his nose at the ultimatum issued by the Nigeria Labour Congress NLC. He is the alternate Inspector General of Police who takes orders only from a conniving Presidency.”
The political and security situation in Rivers State had also forced the APC to direct its lawmakers in the National Assembly to block the passage of this year’s budget as well as other salient presidential requests forwarded to the lawmakers. Saturday Mirror recalls that only this week, Mbu had placed a ban on all forms of political rallies in the state.
Apart from the APC, Nobel Laureate, Prof. Wole Soyinka, was among the many Nigerians who had also sought the immediate reprimand and redeployment of Mbu.
Force spokesman, Frank Mba, also stated that Mbu’s redeployment was not done in isolation as many other CPs were affected in the exercise which he said was designed to rejig the force operational efficiency.
“The IGP enjoins the affected Police Chiefs to step up the fight against all forms of criminality in the country and equally ensure sustained improvement of public safety in all facets of our national life,” he stated. Mba quoted the IGP as appealing to Nigerians from all walks of life to support the new Police Commissioners and their lieutenants to enable them succeed in the discharge of their constitutional and statutory mandate.
Mbu’s replacement, Tunde Johnson Ogunsakin, was appointed as Commissioner of Police in charge of the Special Fraud Unit SFU, Lagos in March 2012. Before then, he was the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Info-Tech at the Force Headquarters.
He had served as Director of Operations of EFCC from June 2008 to May 2009 and was a former Director of Operations of the Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission, ICPC. Though a crack detective, this is his first major Command position.
He ran into troubled waters when the April 24, 2009 edition of the now rested Nigerian Compass newspaper published a detailed cover report of his activities at the University of Abuja where he was alleged to have been involved in series of misconduct. Security analysts believe that Ogunsakin, no doubt enjoys the support of some power-brokers in the country and that it will be a huge surprise if he deviates from the path already created by CP Mbu.
Source: National Mirror
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