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Background:
It began as a secret whisper amongst topmost (political) camps in Rivers State. Now, it is shouted on the streets of Port Harcourt and at rallies; that the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in Rivers State must be won over or be destroyed as the only stepping stone for victory in 2019, especially the governorship diadem expected to pitch Gov Nyesom Wike of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) against whoever the All Progressives Party (APC) would throw at him.
Apparently to achieve this, the PDP and Gov Wike seem to fight with every drop of blood in them to dismantle SARS or at least remove the Commander, Akin Fakorede. On the other hand, the APC lords seem to fight also with every drop of blood in them to protect and keep SARS, especially the Commander.
From the whispers, security may be the least factor in the do-or-die battle over SARS in the state. Instead, it is about 2019. Those who heard these whispers months ago and kept mum now hear it openly at both the PDP and APC rallies over SARS, they all say it is about 2019. So, it is no longer privileged information.
What Wike camp has against SARS
Gov Nyesom Wike has a long list of accusations against SARS as a group but against the commander in particular including the protest against the governor at the Government House one year ago. The most stringent of the accusations is that SARS hijacked ballot boxes during the last rerun elections in the state which allegedly gave victory to the APC. SARS also hung around Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi everywhere and every time, giving him a huge advantage, especially making the wall around him impregnable.
With strings of victory, the APC is looking like a threat and the overwhelming majority which the PDP and Wike used to enjoy and brag about seems to shrink badly, with the APC having two senators over PDP’s one.
The greater hint within PDP topnotchers is that SARS could eliminate anyone of knock important electoral kingpins out of circulation close to elections just to deliver victory to the APC. The loser can only go to court. PDP knows that the APC shouted foul over violent methods and counted dead bodies on the road to 2015 but only left it to fate as the PDP escaped with victory to Brick House. They do not want that kind of thing to happen to them now that the assets seem to have exchanged hands, and the reverse seems to be the case. So, the best option is to start the fight early.
The APC had always accused Wike and the PDP of having the backing of the various ex-militia and ex-militant groups in the state. Most of them were run out of the state by Amaechi as then governor. Such groups seem to have common enemy in Amaechi and the APC and thus would join forces at any election to wage electoral war with added muscles. The only hope by the APC is to break down this muscle to allow normal voting to take place. This strategy is interpreted by the PDP as a ploy to cage the youths and allow APC rigging machine to go unchallenged. So, if the Army will not be at the polling booths and the regular police would be too weak to act, it is only SARS that would have the legal right to move about and be at the polling centres with enough weapons to counter any civil gangs. These seem to be the hard calculations.
Wike particularly says Fakorede with his SARS went about during the rerun elections collecting ballot boxes and swapping results. This gave rise to two sets of results and court cases. The victory at the courts went depending on which result was accepted.
This seems to be why the fear of SARS is the beginning of electoral panic in Rivers State at the moment. What to do; strike at SARS first. To APC, protect SARS at all costs now.
Previous issues with security units
Since 2003, the ruling camp has been united until Peter Odili and Amaechi broke into two major factions; Celestine Omehia was with Odili, Wike was with Amaechi. In 2012, Wike, fighting for his new ally, Goodluck Jonathan, broke away and later united with Odili/Omehia against Amaechi. In this sense, all the gladiators today were once in the same kitchen cabinet and used to plot together. They all understand what they used to do with the security agencies and their heads to secure those landslide victories over the years.
Now, found in different camps but seeking same apple, each camp wants to first capture the security agency most strategic to elections before any other thing. As for primaries, ethy know how to manage it to get their candidates through; as for the polling booths and results, they seem not worry about those ones. It is security that is the greatest matter, they seem to reason.
Before 2015, federal security units were loyal to Wike but Amaechi had one strategic unit that took orders from him, C4i. They were trained by MPD of Israel and had secret cameras that could detect anything and deter anything. Wike’s group spotted their threat towards elections and came out forcefully against them. At a press briefing in GRA 2, the camp accused C4i of plotting to assassinate President Jonathan and demanded for their immediate disbandment. This was done, and C4i died with both their good and bad potentials.
Amaechi’s government also partnered with the FG to procure armed helicopters to track criminals and armed gangs day and night with infrared lights that could search out hidden things and send to a joint centre for immediate action. As the heat of crisis between the state and Aso Rock heightened, the two armoured choppers were stopped from coming in, believing they would make Amaechi very strong securitywise. With C4i out, armoured choppers out, Amu Mbu on the throne as commissioner of police, Amaechi and his APC seemed deflated and the PDP won massively in Rivers State.
Balance of power
Thousands of armed youths had embraced amnesty and were placed on monthly salaries. This made them loyal to the FG and PDP. Most of them such as Ateke Tom, now a monarch, had running battles with the then state governor, Amaechi. Close to 2015, Wike toured all the hideouts or camps and preached peace to them and they all turned into Peace Corps with Ndigbara or Osama Bin Laden of Ogoni a peace ambassador. Over 22,000 of these have now accepted Wike’s amnesty.
Despite the fact that federal security units are all in the hands of the APC and Amaechi, Wike seems to enjoy the full support of the Peace Corps or former armed groups. They openly crave for him and say with him, they are prepared to work for development and maintain the peace. The only snag is that there seems to be less peace in the state with high violence rates.
If these hundreds of thousands of youths or former armed groups are loyal to Wike/PDP, and the federal security units are loyal to the FG and Amaechi, it means that there is a kind of balance of power towards the elections.
In weighing these powers, the Army will not get too close, the police seem weak; so SARS becomes the big factor. This seems to be the tilt of power that both the PDP and APC are after. This is one of the ways to understand the reason why SARS is the biggest topic on the table at the moment and will continue to be so to the elections.
Fireworks: PDP
The Government House in Port Harcourt and the PDP in the state have consistently fired fireworks at SARS and Fakorede. The latest came when the protest for and counter protest against SARS exploded on Monday, December 11, 2017.
The Government seemed to use Wike’s campaign group that brought him to power, the Grassroots Development Initiative (GDI) to move the protest against SARS on Monday, December 11, 2017. They protested what they called killings, kidnappings and electoral fraud allegedly perpetrated by SARS in the state.
The Government statement said the protesters marched through the streets of Port Harcourt before terminating at the PDP headquarters where statements were made by leaders. The protesters sang anti-SARS Songs and displayed placards condemning SARs personnel for their devilish acts of lawlessness. They also demanded the immediate sack and prosecution of the Rivers SARs commander, Fakorede.
Some of the placards read: “Sack Akin Fakorede now”, “Stop killings by SARs”, President Buhari call SARs to order”, “End the killings by SARS” and “End SARs brutality Now.”
President-General of GDI, Bright Amaehwule, berated the SARS for allegedly turning themselves into political criminals used by the APC to perpetrate crime against Nigerians.
He said that the pro-SARs rally in Port Harcourt by the APC same Monday confirmed that the brutality of SARs in the state was being sponsored by the APC.
Amaehwule called for the immediate sack and prosecution of the Rivers SARs commander, Akin Fakorede who was captured on tape committing electoral fraud. He said Akin Fakorede and his operatives must be held to account for their crimes against Rivers people. He particularly lamented the three Ogoni youths allegedly killed by SARs operatives because they stopped SARs from engaging in pipeline vandalism.
In his remarks, the Publicity Secretary of Rivers PDP, Samuel Nwanosike, regretted that the Police High Command allowed SARs to degenerate into a deadly criminal gang. He pointed out that SARs has become a security agency used by the Minister of Transportation, to terrorise Rivers people and steal their mandate.
While re-affirming the call for the sack and prosecution of Akin Fakorede, Rivers SARs Commander, Nwanosike said Rivers people will never be intimidated by the criminally minded security gang.
Wike himself has always fired salvos at SARS. He had in press conference brought to public notice the signal allegedly sent by the Inspector General of Police X Squad wherein SARs in Rivers State was indicted for kidnapping one Ifeanyi and demanding ransom from him. The signal revealed that the SARS operatives later engaged the IGP X Squad in gun duel, leading to the death of a SARS operative.
Governor Wike requested the immediate transfer and prosecution of the Rivers SARs commander. He also called for independent investigation of the activities of SARS in Rivers State. The IGP declined both requests.
In response to the Inspector General of Police claim that he will reform SARS, Governor Wike advised Nigerians not to be deceived because the Police High Command has allegedly concluded plans to turn SARS into a deadly election rigging outfit in 2019.
Simon Nwakauda steps in for PDP
Wike’s media aide, Simoen Nwakauda, has often pelted at the SARS commander. In a latest salvo, he wrote: “According to the 2016 World Internal Security and Police Index (WISPI), the Nigeria Police under the leadership of Ibrahim Idris is the worst in the world.
The Nigeria Police has become the headquarters of anti-people volcanic eruption of terror on a daily under the ill-guidance of Ibrahim Idris as Inspector General of Police.”
The media aide took the IGP out first before hitting at Fakorede and SARS.
He said; “In Rivers State, the notoriety of SARS is deep and unfortunate. They kill and maim with reckless abandon. They operate in ways that make armed robbers look like saints. Under the cover of the police, they unleash mayhem on weak members of the public. They killed a taxi driver in Emohua and branded him a cultist. They stole bags of gari from poor market at Ahoada the other day at gun-point and they snuffed life out of a nine year street trader at Eleme. SARS operatives killed three Ogoni youths for daring to question them as they vandalised pipelines in the area. SARs in company of Minister of Transportation, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi breached the convoy of the Rivers State Governor.
“The Commander of SARs in Rivers State was caught on camera mishandling INEC officials after failed attempts to snatch results at the Rivers East Senatorial District Collation Centre. Fakorede and the Police would later manufacture results which the APC tendered at the Tribunal for the theft of the Rivers East Senatorial District mandate.
When SARS in other states saw that Rivers SARS received encouragement from IGP Idris to unleash terror on the popular, they joined the show of shame. On a daily basis, stories of the brutality and criminality of SARS became part of the ugly existence of Nigerians.”
He said this led to nationwide campaign to end SARS, though some have alleged that the campaign was sponsored by Rivers State Government. He denied this; “The #EndSARs movement was born. This is entirely a citizen-driven effort to restore security across the country. Naturally, the beneficiaries of SARs criminality resolved to team up with IGP Idris to protect their estate of the absurd.”
To the state government, “To think that this IGP can reform SARS is akin to believing that Osama bin Laden can be an international negotiator for the peaceful resolution of conflicts.”
Fireworks: APC
The same Monday, December 11, 2017, hundreds of Rivers people also took over the streets, protesting in support of SARS. This group was clearly moved by APC, just as the other group was moved by PDP. Nobody knows where neutral Rivers people stand.
Statements from the protesters said; “Hundreds took to the streets of Port Harcourt, Rivers State capital, in support of the vilified Special Anti Robbery Squad (SARS), demanding for the deployment of more personnel to the State to enhance security.
“Armed with placards with inscription such as: “SARS is fighting the enemies to save Rivers people, say no to end SARS”, “Without SARS, criminals will cripple Rivers State”, the protesters matched from Port Harcourt Polo Club down to the Police headquarters on Moscow Road, saying only criminals and their sponsors will clamour for the scrapping of SARS.
“Rivers State All Progressives Congress (APC) chairman, Davis Ikanya, told the State Commissioner of Police, Zaki Ahmed that the party decided to join the pro-SARS rally because of the loss of lives of its members.
“He said: “Because we as APC lost the most in terms of number of lives, we are concerned about the call to scrap SARS. In 2015, over 300 of our members were killed or beheaded. From 2015 till date, we have lost more than 400. One day alone in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, we lost persons including my ward 4 chairman, his pregnant wife, daughter and son,” he said.
Ikanya accused politicians opposed to SARS in the State of being afraid that they would lose grip of political power if free and fair polls were held in 2019. The Executive Director, Maritime Operations, Nigeria Ports Authority (NPA), Sokonte Davis, stressed that prior to the advent of SARS, there existed manifold evidence of beheading of people across the State. He argued that only criminally minded individuals in society were opposed to the operations of SARS in the State.
On his part, former Labour Party governorship candidate in Rivers State, Tonye Princewill, stressed the need to reform SARS based on complains by some section of the public, but kicked against the call for it to be scrapped. Princewill stated that the precarious security situation in the state makes it imperative for more SARS operatives to be deployed to the state to stem criminality.
The 2015 Rivers State APC deputy governorship candidate, Asita Honourable Asita, stated that some of the protesters have been victims of kidnapping, robbery, attempted assassination. He said they have lost family members due to activities of criminals which SARS have tried to checkmate.
Asita stressed that if SARS was scrapped, living in the State might become hellish for residents and businesses.
The Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Zaki Ahmed, said contrary to the negative campaign against SARS, the police unit has since January till date, arrested over 1000 suspected armed robbers out of whom about 500 are being prosecuted in court. He further added that over 200 assorted lethal weapons including AK-47 have been recovered.
Ahmed explained that any SARS operative who is involved in human rights abuse contrary to police ethics would be sanctioned.
He lauded the pro- SARS campaigners and appealed to them to continue to support the police to discharge its statutory mandate of protection of life and property, arrest and prosecution of offenders.
Lawmaker suspended for supporting SARS:
An APC lawmaker in the Rivers State House of Assembly, Chikere Azubuike Wanjioku, said he was wrongfully suspended for speaking out against actions taken by the PDP-dominated house against SARS.
He issued a statement thus: “On the 4th of December, 2017 I was unlawfully and illegally suspended from the House by Ikwunyi-Igbani (Speaker) for expressing my opinion and the opinion of my party, APC, on the unnecessary altercation between the governor and the SARS. I am totally opposed to the house resolution on SARS.
Expressing his stand on the SARS saga, the lawmaker said; “The communities I represent are purely agrarian in occupation and today they live in fear of robbers, cultists and kidnappers. They are one of the food baskets of Rivers State but today can no longer go to farm, talk less of fill the baskets as women are raped daily in our farms (an abomination in Ikwerre land), Men are beheaded, young persons are kidnapped and made to pass through unprintable things that you cannot wish your worst enemy. These are the acts that formed my opinion on the need for continued existence of Federal Special Anti-Robbery Squad.
“I stand firmly by my opinion as published on the Nation newspapers of 22nd November 2017,page 42 titled ‘leave us out of the petition on SARS’. I inconsolably oppose the resolution of the House on the issue which was premised on the malice of members without due consideration of the feelings of their constituents. While the resolution was passed the Speaker was heavily protected and escorted to and fro work by men of the same Police while his constituents were left at the mercy of crime in the society. These expected police reforms I subscribe to but I do not subscribe to #EndSARS. These reforms I support but not the scrapping of the unit.
“In a society where dastardly criminal occurrence is a daily menu, the SARS is a necessity. The Online Campaign against FSARS tagged #EndSARS Movement as suspected sponsored by the government of Rivers State has developed a life of its own and has necessitated the coming reforms or restructuring of the unit as proposed by the Inspector General of Police.
SARS is a specialised unit of Nigeria Police responsible for combat of crime such as kidnapping, armed robbery, etal especially in our society (Rivers State) where various shade of violent crimes is increasing at a rapid rate. With my stand and unlawful suspension I have become the first victim of this campaign in Rivers State, the action of the speaker and the house shows that tolerance for crime or encouragement of crime is also increasing at an alarming rate.
“This state, My State, Rivers State under the present administration is sick and needs help. My constituents are left at the mercy of perpetrators of various violent crimes with the tacit approval of my fellow elected lawmakers who are said to have voted for my unlawful suspension. I am unlawfully suspended for supporting continued official protection of lives and properties in accordance with our oath of office.
“We must all join as Nigerians living within this geographical spread to subvert this politics of hatred and crime that has enveloped our state like the ‘black soot’. We must, as Rivers people believe in humanity devoid of these unethical policies that have led to fraudulent primitive swipe of state funds, crude acquisition of wealth, non-payment of salaries, non-payment of scholarships and have continued to encourage socially evil customs of beheading our sons and daughters. I feel for you, my constituents for crime at the invitation of the government in recent times have ended up being celebrated.
“I promise to challenge this legislative claptrap by the Speaker and his co-travellers in a court of law to bring to an end the segregation in the house and their support for the dismantling of law enforcement agencies. This recklessness by the Speaker relying on bogus orders of the house rules will not stand. He lacks the power to suspend any member of the house, as we do not represent ourselves but our constituencies.”
Conclusion:
Nigerians can now understand why SARS, though in all states of the federation, as a special police unit, is a special matter in Rivers State. The soul of the 2019 governorship election may be deeply buried in the SARS armoury. Whoever captures this Squad or destroys it may take hold of the ‘soul’ and win the election. On this account, it would be difficult to stop the war for or against SARS, in Rivers State in particular. Instead, more fiery developments may take place along the way.
