By: Ifeanyi Izeze<\/p>\n
When the police officers directly from the Inspector General\u2019s
\nofficeTuesday September 4th 2018, raided the Abuja residence of
\nformerFederal Commissioner for Information and South-South Leader, Chief
\nEdwin Clark,for alleged stockpiling of arms and ammunition, it would have
\nordinarily beenassumed they were merely doing their job but for the now
\nfamiliar \u201cacts\u201d ofthis government which has perfected mischief and
\nintimidation as part of itsdefining characteristics.<\/p>\n
One of twothings is playing out in this government as we approach the
\ngeneral elections.It is either the president is being taken for granted by
\nthose he appointed towork with or rather for him or the president himself
\nis part of the scheme todrag this nation into a senseless wave of violence
\nfor whatever reasons. Thingsthat happen on daily basis in this country
\nmake it look as if there are peoplehigh up in this government who
\ndeliberately are out to create conflicts\/crisisfor President Buhari for
\nreasons obviously not in the interest of the nation.<\/p>\n
Let\u2019s even look at what transpired at the Abuja residence of
\nthesouth-south leader on Tuesday 4th September 2018: Eight policemencame
\nin an 18-seater Toyota Hiace bus with number plate: EU 979 ABC, from
\ntheoffice of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP, Ibrahim Idris. They
\nwere saidto be from the IGP\u2019s \u2018Special Tactical Force\u2019 STF, Guzape, Abuja,
\nwhich reportsonly to the IGP.<\/p>\n
Three of the policemen, who were heavily armed, waited outside thehouse,
\nwhile three others entered the house to effect the search. At the end
\nofthe two-hour search, the policemen were said to have left without
\nfinding anythingincriminating against the elder statesman.<\/p>\n
As narrated by Chief Clark, three of the policemen reportedly signed
\nadocument indicating that neither arms nor ammunition was found in the
\nhouse,while three persons from Chief Clark\u2019s household counter-signed the
\ndocument.Those who signed on behalf of Chief Clark were Ambassador
\nGodknows Igali,Secretary-General of Pan Niger Delta Forum, PANDEF, Dr.
\nAlfred Mulade and Mr.Mac Emakpore.<\/p>\n
The policemen who were led by one Kolo Yusuf, told Chief Clark they hada
\nsearch warrant obtained from the court.<\/p>\n
Now who is the IGP deceiving that the policemen who report directly tohis
\noffice acted on their own without instruction from him? Disowning
\nanddetaining the eight police officers seem more like looking for dummy
\nfall guysas the operation has gone sour.<\/p>\n
This Government,whether President Buhari is aware or not the buck stops on
\nhis table, should betold in a language they understand very well that this
\naction against ChiefClark was an outright provocation and a deliberate
\nincitement orchestrated todraw out the Niger Delta militants into a new
\nround of violence in the region.This is the truth, the whole truth and,
\nnothing but the truth!<\/p>\n
Do we needanybody to tell us that it is impossible for the raid by the
\nPolice on theAbuja residence of the 92 year old leader of the Niger Delta
\nto have beencarried out if it was not planned and ordered from only two
\nsources, thePresidency and\/or the office of the Inspector General of
\nPolice?<\/p>\n
It is outrightlyackward that the police \u2018acting unilaterally\u2019 can invade
\nthe residence of a prominentman of that age who President Buhari and his
\ngovernment did duly acknowledgedand recognized as the leader of the Pan
\nNiger Delta Forum (PANDEF), the groupthe government has been talking to in
\nthe name of Niger Delta and which hashelped the government so much in
\ndissuading the angry youths of the Niger Deltaregion from violently
\nengaging the government security agents even in the faceof outright
\nprovocations.<\/p>\n
Why would anelder statesman of 92 years stockpile arms and ammunitions?
\nBuhari or peoplearound him deliberately want to provoke the Niger Delta
\nespecially themilitants so that the government will have excuse to do what
\nthey have becomeused to doing in the region.<\/p>\n
For the policeto conduct a raid on the home of a man of that age on the
\npretence that theywere looking for arms and ammunitions and eventually the
\nclaim turned out to bea hoax, means that something must be amidst as the
\nstories are not adding up atall.<\/p>\n
We need to getthis drama clear. Before now, these kind of sting operations
\nwere usuallycarried out by men of the Department of State Services (DSS)
\nand not thepolice. So suddenly the police has discovered their swag to
\nsting, abi? Could it be that whoever packagedthe operation did pass
\nwhatever intels they had to the DSS to handle because ofthe person of the
\ncurrent Acting Director General of the Service? Just thinkingaloud!<\/p>\n
Is it notcurious that the raid on Chief Clark\u2019s house came few weeks after
\none of the NigerDelta militant groups, the Niger Delta Avengers, issued a
\nthreat to the federalgovernment to immediately restructure the country or
\nbe ready to face anotherround of armed agitation by the region against
\neverything that has to do withoil productions in their area?<\/p>\n
For the presidentnot to see the game plan playing out (though terribly
\nmuddled up by thepolice), says a lot about his aloofness to the happenings
\nin his governmentand\/or his complicity in the whole matter.<\/p>\n
If the NigerDelta militants or even their father, Chief Clark, want to
\nstockpile arms andammunition to sabotage oil facilities, will they be so
\nfoolish to keep theweapons in Edwin Clark\u2019s house in Abuja? Throughout the
\nspate of the previousagitations, did the militant groups keep their arms
\nand ammunition in Abuja?You see the foolishness of those that pushed the
\nvery foolish Police InspectorGeneral into making another mockery of not
\nonly himself but the entire internalsecurity efforts of this government.<\/p>\n
How could themilitants have been so foolish as to keep their arms in
\nsomebody\u2019s residence inAbuja? Are there any oil production activities in
\nAbuja to warrant anybody toclaim the action of the police was to forestall
\nthe militants\u2019 attack on oilfacilities since the militants are not
\ninterested in overthrowing anygovernment?<\/p>\n
No matter howanybody views this case, it definitely looks foolish on the
\nsurface but underthe surface, it has all the attributes of a well-planned
\ncovert operation toprovoke and incite the people of the region into
\nanother round of violence.<\/p>\n
My plea to mypeople is that we should not fall to this unintelligent
\ndummy. That thing wey their mama tell them, ourmama don tell us too, abi?
\nThe wise thing to do is to insist on a properinvestigation to unravel all
\nthe details particularly concerning who gave theorder, who signed the
\npolice search warrant, which officers executed it andwhat objective was it
\nmeant to serve.<\/p>\n
It should beclear to the people of the Niger Delta that the attack on
\nEdwin Clark\u2019s goesbeyond the Police. If you look at it, you will think the
\npolice deliberatelymuddled it up. No! It\u2019s all part of the plan. It is
\nOperation Crocodile SmileIII unfolding. My Niger Delta people let us be as
\nwise as serpents for we arelike sheep in the midst of wolfs! God bless
\nNigeria.<\/p>\n