I’ll not cover any officer involved in criminality —Rivers CP vows

…As IYC protests the killing of kinsman by a trigger-happy cop

The Commissioner of Police in Rivers State, Nwonyi Emeka, has vowed that he would protect any officer found culpable of any criminal offence in the state, warning that any policeman who involves in crime would be prosecuted accordingly.

This was as Ijaw Youth Council, IYC stormed State Police Command at Moscow Road, in protest of the death of their kinsman, Alafuro Peterside, who was killed in the presence of his wife and three children by a team of Mobile Police attached to Gombe State Police Command.

The President of IYC President, Jonathan Lokpobiri told the CP that the group would not let the killing be swept under the carpet, saying: “In response to our being here, we will like to use this medium to advise our brothers that we will never let this matter slide until full justice is served. And the culprit punished fully for his crime against us. Before we leave here my advice is that as a people, we have a duty not to allow police or anybody to compromise this entire process until full justice is served in this matter.”

However, Nwonyi, while addressing the protesters, disclosed that investigations are already ongoing into the incident, adding that killer policeman is still cooling off at the Homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation Department, SCID.

Nwonyi assured that the police officers would be charge to court if found guilty at the end of investigation, promising that the matter would not be swept under the carpet, even as he urged the group to allow the police to do its work.

He said: “Your son who was shot as alleged by the police is not just an offense against Ijaw people, it is an offense against the state and humanity and nobody that takes the law into his hands will go unpunished.

“The day the incident happened; I personally ordered the case to be transferred immediately to the homicide section of the State Criminal Investigation Department. I also invited the wife, and I had a direct talk with her to know what happened on the day of the incident.

“I want to assure you that we will do our internal cleansing and consequently on the advice of the Department of Public Prosecution (DPP) charge the case to court when it is due. But you must allow the due processes to follow their course.”

He also said: “If we find any of our men culpable the full wrath of the law will be faced by such officer. I want to assure the member of the public that the issue of the police officer who shot the bullet that led to the death of an Ijaw man will not be swept under the carpet.”

The CP, who also paraded suspects at the command headquarters said operatives tracked down criminal elements in Buguma in Asari Toru and Woji community, Ozuoba-Choba axis and Elimgbu communities in Obio-Akpor Local government Areas as well as some car snatching syndicates along Niger Street in Port Harcourt.