Jonathan orders AIG Ogunsakin out of Rivers, accuses him of being anti-PDP

AIG Tunde Ogunshskin.

The Nigerian presidency has overruled the Inspector General of Police, Suleiman Abba, and has ordered the immediate redeployment of Tunde Ogunsakin, an Assistant Inspector
General of Police, out of Rivers state, for allegedly failing to do the bidding of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
The Nigeria Police had on Thursday deployed senior police officers to oversee governorship and state assembly elections in states considered as the likely flash-points on Saturday.

Assistant Inspectors General of Police were deployed to supervise elections in 16 states, including Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Lagos, and other potentially troubled spots, a statement from
the force had said Thursday. Mr. Ogunsakin, a former police commissioner in Rivers state, and currently AIG in charge of
Zone 6, headquartered in Calabar, was asked to return to Rivers to oversee police deployment for the election there. Based on the IGP’s directive, Mr. Ogunsakin left his Calabar base and travelled to Port Harcourt, the Rivers state capital, Friday. On arrival, he reportedly ordered
investigations into reports that PDP supporters were thump-printing ballot papers in some locations in the city.
“He also ordered that some thugs being positioned to foment trouble be restrained,” a source in the Rivers State Police Command revealed. Our sources said the AIG rebuffed all efforts by the presidency and the PDP to get him to work for the PDP candidate, Mr. Ezebuwon Nyesom Wike, in the election.

“The presidency suspects Ogunsakin has sympathy for Amaechi, and has directed the IGP to send him out of the state with immediate effect,” a presidency source said.

“I’m sure he should be on his way to Calabar by now.”

A top police officer at the Rivers Police
Command however confirmed that Mr.
Ogunsakin hurried out of Port Harcourt Saturday morning following directives from the presidency.
“He is on his way back to his location because even some PDP members were threatening to attack him if sighted anywhere in town.”

News that Mr. Ogunsakin had been ordered out of Rivers came hours after Governor Rotimi Amaechi issued a statement saying he had “received news of harassment, intimidations and improper conduct by law enforcement agents in the course of today, Friday, April 10, 2015 as exemplified by the
action of the Divisional Police Officer, Kayode Joseph, and the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Rivers State Command, DCP John O.
Amadi.”