THE Rivers State police command, again, was on collision with the state
government on Tuesday, as its men dispersed some 13,000 newly employed teachers
where they had gone to receive their posting letters.
Trouble started when armed
policemen in vans stormed the Liberation Stadium, venue of the posting ceremony
and started ordering the people, mostly women, out of the venue.
Nigerian Tribune gathered that
the police team claimed that the teachers had allegedly gathered to carry out a
protest.
Some of the newly employed
teachers, caught in the ensuing melee, told the Nigerian Tribune that they were
surprised to see the situation turned to cat-and-mouse chase, adding that they
were not aware of any planned protest.
A lady, who gave her name as
Victoria, denied knowledge of any protest plan, rather, she said she had gone
to the stadium to get posted to the school where she was expected to work.
“A woman close by me tried to
ask the policemen what was going on, but he said we shouldn’t ask him any
question and by the time we got to the gates, we saw several police vans and
hundreds of policemen.
“I later learnt that the police
said we were suspected to have gathered for a protest. I don’t know of any
protest, we were to receive our posting today that was why we went there,” she
said.
Reacting to the development,
the permanent secretary of the state Ministry of Education, Dr Richard Ofuru,
said “it is simply an administrative matter. We didn’t think it was necessary
to inform the police.
“Remember, during the interview
session in the recruitment process, this stadium was also used because of the
number of applicants involved.
“We did not inform the police then and we did not have any problem. I do not know why anybody would read meaning to a simple administrative affair. I do not know of any political undertone because there is none.”
“We did not inform the police then and we did not have any problem. I do not know why anybody would read meaning to a simple administrative affair. I do not know of any political undertone because there is none.”
The new police spokesman of the
state command, Ahmed Muhammad, said the police operation was carried out
because the Ministry of Education did not obtain a permit before gathering
people at the stadium.
He added that “you will
remember that the ban on protest is still in force in the state, but this time
round, there was no such thing.
“Their refusal to request for
the permit confirmed the security report that they were going on protest.
“They had requested for permits
in the past and it was granted, why not this time round?
Meanwhile, the Rivers State
government has described the act of the police as “a display of impunity.”
The state Commissioner for
Information and Communications, Mrs Ibim Semenitari, wondered why both the
police and the political opposition in the state were always hanging their
actions on the image and person of President Goodluck Jonathan.
“Virtually, this is the
impunity we have been saying about in Rivers State. And, it is clear to Rivers
people that this is the action of retrogressive forces who are totally against
development, because, it is the first time any governmentt, whether state or
federal, is employing 13,000 teachers at once.
“What is the correlation between
the teachers getting their employment letters and President Jonathan? Why do
people continually want to drag President Jonathan’s name into everything. Is
there something they are telling Rivers people that we don’t know?
“I think this is unacceptable and
Rivers people need to fight and ensure that this reign of impunity must stop,”
she said.
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