Why Inspector General of Police redeployed Rivers Police Commissioner

The Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu has ordered the immediate redeployment of Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mustapha Dandaura, and posting of a new commissioner Joseph Gobum Mukan to the state.

The redeployment of the commissioner may not be unconnected with the recent arrests and arraignment of oil workers and pilots in the state in the past one week for flouting the state’s lockdown orders.

In a statement by the Police Public Relations Office, Frank Mba, the former Rivers Police Commissioner, Dandaura, has been posted to the Force Headquarters in Abuja as CP Provost, while CP Musa Adze has been posted as Commissioner of Police Anti-Fraud Unit.

Mba said the posting and redeployment of the affected Senior Police Officers is with immediate effect.

“The IGP charges the affected Commissioners of Police to diligently and professionally discharge their duties in their new areas of responsibilities,” the PPRO said.

The redeployment of the Rivers Police Commissioner is coming a few hours after Governor Nyesom Wike announced that 22 workers of Exxon Mobil were arrested for violating the lockdown order in the state.

Wike revealed that he instructed the Police Commissioner and Garrison Commander of the Nigerian Army in the State not to be part of the process leading to the arrest of the oil workers.

“The CP and all the security agencies ran away from me because they get their orders from Abuja, so I told them don’t put your hands. I told the CP and Garrison Commander  this morning not to get involved, we will fight this legally,” he said.

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A week ago, two pilots of Caverton Helicopters were also arrested and prosecuted in Rivers state for flying passengers into the state in defiance to the lockdown order.

The pilots were arraigned and remanded in prison. Wike announced in his state broadcast on Friday that the management of Caverton Helicopters has apologised to the State and a truce has been reached between the airline and the Rivers State Government.

Rivers State has had three police commissioners in the last one year, Dandaura who has just been redeployed was posted to Rivers in July 2019 to replace Usman Belel who was redeployed to Force Headquarters in Abuja.