Wike Frowns At FG’s Refusal To Probe Rivers SARS Commander Akin Fakorede

The Rivers State government has said that the continued stay of Akin Fakorede as the Commander of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) in the state has become a nightmare for residents.

Addressing journalists in Port Harcourt yesterday, the state Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mr. Emma Okah, accused the Fakorede-led SARS of engaging in kidnapping, armed robbery, extortion and extra-judicial killings.

According to him, the state has on many occasions written to the Inspector-General of Police (IG), Ibrahim Idris, and the Police Service Commission (PSC) to investigate allegations against the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS), or transfer Akin Fakorede (CSP), out of the state but not acted upon.

“Prior to the 2015 general election, there was a running battle between the then governorship candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and current governor, Chief Nyesom Wike and the Nigerian Police over some of its officers.

“Our position that time was that there were two police officers, Steven Hasso and Akin Fakorede that were posted to Rivers State to work for the opposition party.

“Even after the general elections and the rerun elections, the Rivers State government has continued to have problems with Akin Fakorede, the Commander of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad. Our people are bitter and in tears over the atrocities committed against them by SARS.

“We want to draw the attention of President Muhammadu Buhari, fellow Nigerians and the international community on the atrocities of SARS in Rivers State. We are worried by the deliberate refusal of the IG and the Police Service Commission to transfer Fakorede out of Rivers State.

“Fakorede is running the armed wing of the (APC) in Rivers State. He is perfecting his strategies to rig the 2019 elections in the state in favour of the opposition APC. He intends to disorganise the security architecture of the state before the next general election,” Okah alleged.