The Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara has warned police officers who pursue vested political interests that their actions might haunt them in the future.
The governor asserted that the responsibility of a police officer is to protect lives and not to fuel enmity.
He insisted that it is an aberration for police officers to think that protecting any particular individual or being one-sided while carrying out their responsibilities amounts to professionalism.
Fubara gave the advice at the inauguration and formal handover of 100 operational vehicles acquired by his administration to the Rivers State Police Command at the Sharks Football Stadium in Port Harcourt on Tuesday.
He said, “I need to say this so that you will understand. When you (Disu) came to Rivers State, and I had my encounter with you, I requested only one thing: That I will never ask you to do what is wrong. So do what is right. Protect the lives and property of Rivers people. Don’t be partisan.
“We have seen those people that were partisan; how they ended. And, I am saying it here to every one of you who is an officer who is being partisan: You will see how you will end.
“So, work in such a way that when your name is mentioned in this State, or your children come to this state, you won’t be scared. This is important.”
Fubara urged them to forget about the current political anxiety in the state because, according to him, nothing will last forever.
He charged them to conduct their operations as real professionals who had been trained so that they could be effective in the responsibility of protecting the lives and property of people in Rivers State.
The Governor added, “It is not to protect any individual. It is not to be one-sided in the political affairs of the State. Politics will come and it will go. The enmity you are creating, for those of you who are partisan, will live with you forever.
“So, I want to advise you, I have said it before, and I am saying it again: I will never ask any of you to do what is wrong. My appeal is: to stand on the ethics of your profession and protect the lives and property of Rivers people. Be fair to all.”
