Governor Amaechi escapes death as convoy rams into suspicious vehicle [PHOTOS]

Governor Rotimi Amaechi of Rivers State escaped death on Tuesday night as a suspicious vehicle ran into his convoy on Rukpokwu-Igwuruta Road.

The governor was on his way to the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, when the incident occurred.
The driver of the vehicle, a Toyota Avensis, with registration no: Lagos AAA 767 AQ, apparently lost control of his car, swerved from the opposite lane of the dual carriage way and hit a vehicle in the governor’s convoy.
The accident happened on the busy Igwuruta Road, after the C41 Security Post, along the Port Harcourt International Airport.
A witness said though no life was lost, but some occupiers of the governor’s security vehicles sustained minor injuries. He added that the driver of the car was arrested and handed over to the police.
The witness said security and protocol personnel riding in the vehicle involved in the accident were shocked and were advised to play safe by seeking medical attention immediately.
He said: “The governor’s convoy was coming from the airport when this Toyota car lost control and swerved from the opposite side and before we knew it, hit one of the vehicles in the governor’s convoy.
“Because of the political crisis in the state, a lot of people initially thought that the governor’s convoy was being attacked.”
The Chief Press Secretary to the governor, David Iyofor, who confirmed the accident, told National Mirror last night that the car involved in the accident was the security vehicle of the governor’s Chief of Staff, COS, Sir Tony Okocha.
He also confirmed that the vehicle, a Toyota Prado Sport Utility Vehicle, SUV, was hit by a speeding vehicle in the opposite direction and that no life was lost, adding, however, that the vehicle was a complete write-off.
Reacting to the incident, Okocha said it was shocking.
He, however, gave thanks to God that no life was lost.
The COS said Amaechi was shocked by the incident but it did not in any way stop him from embarking on his journey.
Okocha added that while the governor sympathised with those who sustained injuries, he had left everything in the hands of God as the political battle in the state was in the hands of God, adding that the just would be vindicated.
The accident came after the state Commissioner of Police, Joseph Mbu, openly lambasted Amaechi, describing him as a dictator.
In a related development, the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Abubakar, yesterday said he had not received any official communication from Amaechi on the clamour for Mbu’s redeployment.
According to him, the governor has not formally sent any petition to the Force and hence the inability of the police to take any action based solely on media reports.
Abubakar spoke at the 2013 Force CID Annual Award at the Force Headquarters in Abuja.
Amaechi called for Mbu’s redeployment when the Chairman of the Governing Board of National Youth Service Corps, NYSC, Chief Gordon Bozimo, led a delegation on a courtesy visit to the Government House, Port Harcourt.
He said Mbu had long abandoned his constitutional role of securing lives and property in the state, explaining that the crime situation had risen.
Amaechi said as the Chief Security Officer of the state, there was no way he could achieve any meaningful result in the fight against crime with Mbu as police commissioner.
Meanwhile, the state Attorney-General and Commissioner for Justice, Hon. Worgu Boms, has called on the police commissioner to act within the law.
Boms urged Mbu to discharge his responsibilities within the precincts of law and not allow himself to be used by political forces against Amaechi.
The Attorney-General spoke in Port Harcourt yesterday, even as he decried Mbu’s utterances and conduct which he said could lead to anarchy.
He also condemned the ban on street processions by the commissioner.
Boms said Mbu had no legal power to ban protests, explaining that the Public Order Act authorises only the state to grant permission for any street procession.
He said: “For the avoidance of doubt and for the information of the public, the commissioner of police has no such powers to ban any type of procession nor does any citizen need to apply to him for permission or authorisation to engage in any type of protest or procession.
“Ours is a society founded on and governed by law. The commissioner of police, curiously, did not inform the public under what law he derived his power to ban processions.”
Meanwhile, the House of Representatives yesterday ordered its Committees on Police Affairs and Justice to liaise with the office of the Inspector-General of Police, the Police Service Commission and Rivers State to fashion out ways of improving the working relationship between the state and the police command.
The committee is to report back to the House within one week.
The move by the lawmakers followed a motion sponsored by Hon. Peter Ede (ANPP-Ebonyi) over the state of insecurity in Rivers State.