The Rivers State Government has urged the Federal Government to intervene in the alleged volatile security situation in the state with a view to ensuring safety of lives and property.
The state Commissioner for Information, Emma Okah, made the appeal at a news conference in Port Harcourt on Monday.
Okah accused some members of Special Anti-Robbery Squad of the Nigeria Police of committing atrocities.
He enumerated some of the crimes allegedly being committed by some members of the security outfits and said the people of the state were very worried over the situation.
According to him, the allegations included extortion of money from innocent residents of the state at gunpoint.
Okah pointed out that the state was not against the security outfits but the “ugly methods of doing their jobs”.
He said there had been a lot of incidents which Governor Nyesom Wike had personally complained to the police high command and the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, by writing for intervention, but with no positive results.
According to Okah, security has been politicised by those who should protect the citizens.
He appealed to the Federal Government and the police authorities to urgently address the anomaly.
The Commissioner also asked the Federal Government to give the state a “professional SARS” whose primary objective would be to safeguard the lives and property of residents in the state.
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