Governor Okezie Ikpeazu of Abia has protested the transfer of former commissioner of police in the state, Eneh Okon, seeking that he should be retained for another six months.
POLITICS NIGERIA reported how Mr Okon was recently transferred as a result of the killing of an Abia businessman, Ifeanyi Arunsi, at Ohafia Community. The businessman was killed by a police officer on Friday. While the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu ordered an investigation into the case, he replaced Mr Okon with Janet Agbede.
Nevertheless, in a leaked letter dated April 22, which was obtained by POLITICS NIGERIA, Mr Ikpeazu allegedly wrote the Police Service Commission, demanding that Mr Okon be retained for another six months.
“I feel constrained to protest the transfer of the Abia State Commissioner of Police, CP Eneh Okon. CP Eneh Okon as Abia State Commissioner of Police has shown capacity and industry in the discharge of his duties to the effect that crime rate in our state has long reduced under his watch.”
“It might interest you to note that from February 2020 till date, we have recorded only 8 kidnapping and armed robbery cases in our state. There has also been no bank robbery at all in Abia State under the current Commissioner of Police,” the letter read.
Also in the letter, Governor Ikpeazu accused former Governorship candidate, Alex Otti, of plots to remove Mr Okon.
“We are not unmindful of the boosting and threats both orally and on telephone by one Dr Alex Otti, a defeated Governorship candidate of the All Progressives Grand Alliance (APGA) to remove CP Okon from Abia State because he has refused to allow IPOB and detractors of our President to riot and gain a foothold across Abia State.”
Mr Otti was also accused of sponsoring the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), a secessionist group agitating for the creation of Biafra Republic.
“My plea as the Chief Security Officer of Abia State is for you to graciously retain the CP for the next 6 months,” Mr Ikpeazu pleaded with the Chairman of the Police Commission.
In the letter, he said: “Retaining CP Okon will enable us completely rout the secessionists in our midst and assist the State to mop up the remainder of small arms in the State.”
Alex Otti’s reaction
POLITICS NIGERIA reported how the APGA candidate revealed the alleged role of Governor Okezie Ikpeazu and the former Commissioner of Police, Ene Okon, in the harassment and illegal arrest of critics of the Ikpeazu-led administration.
In a statement of Tuesday, he stated that the letter contained various allegations against him, which he denied outrightly.
“This letter made many weighty allegations against me including that I am a sponsor of IPOB, that I set up the attack at Ohafia where a policeman shot a young man and the youth of the community carried out a reprisal attack on a police station and that I caused the removal of the CP again for refusing IPOB and detractors of the government to riot in Abia.”
“I would have responded immediately I saw this bizarre letter but I learnt that the Governor and his team were strategizing on how to deny the letter and christen it “fake”. Somehow, they have not responded officially close to one week after.”
Otti revealed that the letter was masterminded by three people; Mr Okon, the Chief of Staff to the Governor, Anthony Agbazuere and the Commissioner for Information, John Okiyi Kalu.
“They subsequently sold the evil plot to Okezie Ikpeazu who had no problems lending his name and signature to it. I will reveal more information on this if any of them denies.”
Speaking on why Mr Ikpeazu was seeking the retention of Mr Okon, he stated that the Governor and his Chief Of Staff had formed the habit of intimidating and unlawfully arresting people who are opposed to them using the former Commissioner of Police and some policemen at the legal department of the State Command.
He then cited several cases which included journalists, activists and critics of the Ikpeazu-led administration who have been unjustly arrested and incarcerated.
Ikpeazu, Commissioner speak
Meanwhile, the Chief Press Secretary to Ikpeazu, Onyebuchi Ememanka and the commissioner for information, John Okiyi, has reacted to Mr Otti’s accusations.
Notwithstanding, none of them confirmed or denied the letter written.
“We don’t have any intention of engaging Alex Otti in any open confrontation. We have met him on two different occasions in two elections, we defeated him in 2015 and in 2019,” Ememanka told POLITICS NIGERIA in a telephone interview on Tuesday.”
He said: “What we are concerned about at the moment is how to manage the Covid-19 pandemic. Governor Ikpeazu does not have the luxury of frivolities to engage him. The governor is busy managing the pandemic.”
When asked if the state government wrote the letter, he simply said: “I have given you a response that the response is encompassing. We’ll not dignify him with a response.”
On the other hand, Mr Okiyi called Mr Otti an ‘odious’ liar. This was contained in a statement released by the commissioner on Tuesday evening.
“Let me state without equivocation that Mr Otti lied against my person and possibly lied with other statements.
He stated that while he is aware of the options available to him to seek legal redress for the above defamation from Mr Alex Otti, he is a also aware of the judgement of Almighty God.”
“If what Mr Otti stated, concerning my “masterminding” or writing any fake or real letter, as cited by him, is true, may the Almighty God unleash very harsh judgement on me and my generations but bless him. But if Mr Otti lied against me, as he is used to regularly lie about matters concerning Abia, may God judge him harshly along with his generations and bless me.”
Speaking on the letter, he said that: “For the benefit of those who may wish to know what I know or do not know about the said letter referred to by Otti, let me state that I only saw the online copy forwarded to me by a concerned citizen of Abia State after the document was published by Otti’s media aide.”
According to Mr Okiyi, the person who forwarded it to him wanted to know if it was real or fake.
“I responded to the fellow that my focus was on carrying out the assignment given to me as a member of the state inter-ministerial committee on COVID-19 which entails, most importantly, saving our people from the rampaging coronavirus, and that I did not have time for political distractions in these trying times.”
“For the avoidance of doubt, I never discussed the writing of any letter, fake or real, as published by Otti, with Dr ACB Agbazuere or the former CP Ene Okon, at any time in my life and only saw the material document as posted by one of Otti’s minions.”
“Mr Otti is free to publish any evidence linking me with the writing of the said letter, real or fake, or face God’s judgement as I have no time for litigations or, “he said, she said” back and forth.
All efforts to reach the police commission for its comments proved abortive as the telephone numbers provided on the website were not reachable when POLITICS NIGERIA tried calling.
Moreover, the email enquiry forwarded on Wednesday were not responded to.
