SARS Hit Squad claims by Rivers State Government offensive, disturbing – Police say

The Rivers State police command has said that claims by the Rivers State government that it “INTERCEPTED SARS HIT SQUADS TO HIJACK ELECTION MATERIALS AND ATTACK PDP MEN, NYSC MEMBERS” is disturbing

The public relations officer of the command, Nnamdi Omoni, in a statement on Friday equally described the claims as offensive.

The Rivers state government had through the commissioner for information and communication, Emma Okah, said that the’RSG INTERCEPTS SARS HIT SQUADS TO HIJACK ELECTION MATERIALS AND ATTACK PDP MEN, NYSC MEMBERS’

But Omoni said in a statement that the news is fake and capable of hitting up the polity.

He said: “The attention of the Rivers State Police Command has been drawn to a Press Statement issued by Barr Emma Okah, the State Commissioner for Information and Communications, on the purported interception of FSARS’ Deployment List and planned attack of PDP men and NYSC members, before and during the Elections.

“The Press Statement is not only disturbing and offensive to our collective sensibilities but an orchestrated attempt by the author to cause panic and hit up the polity, especially now that the State is passing through a crucial time in her life.

“To this end, it has become increasingly necessary to straighten the records and state as follows: That the purported Deployment List with some Names, does not bear any semblance of FSARS’ Deployment List for the 2019 Elections.

“That some of the Names mentioned in the Fake News are officers who have long been redeployed from the outfit and some for reasons of ill health are not in active service, while others are personnel on their Regular Duty Posts in Etche, Emohua, Bori and Erema, respectively.

“In the light of the foregoing, the Command hereby enjoins the general public and indeed residents of the State to disregard and discountenance the Press Statement, as same is politically motivated and intended to score cheap political points.

“As a Command, we have consistently maintained that we shall remain neutral, apolitical and professional in the discharge of our Constitutional mandate, hence we refused to be distracted by these machinations.

“We have put in place elaborate security measures to ensure that the 2019 Elections will be free, fair, credible and devoid of violence. As we continue to appeal to the politicians to play the game by the rules for a seamless exercise” Omoni said