Police spokesman calls Ortom ‘drowning man’ angers Benue CPS
- Hot argument ensued between the police spokesperson, Jimoh Moshood and Governor Ortom's CPS, Terver Akase, over Benue killings
- Moshood described Governor Ortom as a 'drowning man'
- But Akase told Moshood to withdraw his statement
There was a mild drama between the Benue state government and the Nigeria police force on Tuesday, February 6, when the police public relations officer, Jimoh Moshood, described Governor Samuel Ortom as a drowning man.
Channels reports that Moshood had engaged the chief press secretary to the governor, Terver Akase, in a heated argument over the series of violence that have left many to their early graves since the beginning of the year.
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Legit.ng gathered that both officials had featured as guests on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily.
“And that is why we felt you don’t join issues with a drowning man,” he said in an apparent reference to the governor calling for the immediate resignation or sack of the IGP.
Things, however, did not seem to go down well with the CPS who interrupted him with a strong rebuttal, demanding a retraction of the statement.
At this point Akase interrupted him, making it clear that he took exception to the statement, insisting that “the governor of Benue state is not a drowning man.”
“He has to withdraw that statement. The governor of Benue was popularly elected and he is not a drowning man,” the CPS added.
The state government and the police authorities seem not to be on the same page on the recent killings that have also displaced many of its indigenes.
While the police seem to have credited itself to having restored peace in the troubled state, the state, on the contrary, is calling for the immediate sack or resignation of the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris.
To the police spokesman, the call made by the state government seems not to have gone down well as he considered it an affront to the police boss and the entire police officers.
He added: “It is a great disservice to the Inspector General of Police and the entire Nigeria Police Force for the governor to call for his resignation, the governor should resign first.
“What he has said, the document presented to the Senate is for action by the Senate. And nobody can make any part or complete document public until the Senate makes a decision on it and passes a resolution.”
Defending his principal, Akase wondered why the IGP should not resign when the police under his leadership had failed to secure lives and properties as enshrined in the Police Act.
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Section 4 of the Police Act, he explained, is the duty of the police to protect lives and maintain law and order.
The governor’s spokesman, however, regretted a situation whereby the police would seek clearance from the authorities in Abuja before taken any decisive action.
Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that the Inspector General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris during his meeting with a Senate committee on Friday, February 2, suggested that states with anti-grazing law be ordered to suspend the law until ranches can be provided for herdsmen.
Victims of herdsmen killing buried in Benue state - on Legit.ng TV
Source: Legit.ng
