From CHRIS ANUCHA, Port Harcourt

Officers and men of the Rivers State Police Command and journalists, who were at the state force headquarters as early as 7am to welcome the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr. Mohammed Abubakar yesterday, were disappointed when the IGP did not turn up as expected.

Instead, the IGP, who was in Port Harcourt to commission vehicles donated by the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), was welcomed at Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa by the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Mbu Joseph Mbu, and drove straight to the Police Primary School, Port Harcourt, where the vehicles were parked.

As soon as the IGP commissioned the vehicles, he was driven back to the airport where he boarded the next flight to Abuja. Area commanders, divisional police officers (DPOs), senior police officers and rank and file, were disappointed when the Deputy Commissioner of Police (operations) Joshiak Habila, came to inform them that the IGP they had been waiting for, had commissioned the vehicles and left for Abuja.

Disappointed and dejected, the policemen, who wore long faces started murmuring and leaving the venue one after the other. Besides the disappointed police officers, journalists, who were at the command headquarters as early as 7.30am for the commissioning, which was billed to start at 10am, were surprised.

They had waited eagerly to take the IGP up on the rift between the state commissioner of police and Governor Chibuike Amaechi. The Police Public Relations Officer, Mrs. Angela Agabe, who came to apologize to the newsmen, did not speak further on tthe IGP’s action.

The journalists, who were angry, described the action as shocking. Mr. Amaechi Okonkwo, who is also the secretary of the Federated Correspondents Chapel, Rivers State chapter, said the IGP’s action was surprising and least expected.

According to him, Abubakar would have used the opportunity of his visit to comment on the crisis in Rivers State, especially, the face-off between Amaechi and the commissioner of police. Journalists, who came to the police headquarters yesterday, were there to prevail on the IGP to comment on how he intended to resolve the problem between the governor and the police commissioner.

Others, who spoke to Daily sun also expressed surprise that the IGP did not bothered to visit the Government House. .:::SOURCE: http://www.sunnewsonline.com/new/cover/igp-visits-rivers-avoids-state-command-hqtrs-journalists/