Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force previously dispatched to seal off 23 Local Government Areas of Rivers State have been directed to fall back.
The order was issued by the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, on Monday.
Grace Iringe-Koko, the Public Relations Officer of the Rivers State Command, noted that the withdrawal of the police is with immediate effect.
According to the statement, the order is hinged on the recent political developments in Rivers State.
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“The newly deployed State Commissioner of Police, Bala Mustapha, conveyed the directives of the Inspector General of Police, IGP Kayode Egbetokun, for the immediate withdrawal of all police personnel previously deployed to seal and safeguard the Local Government Secretariats in the State,” it read partly.
It emphasized that the decision “is in line with the commitment of the Nigeria Police Force to ensure neutrality and the smooth functioning of democratic institutions.”
Personnel, the spokesperson noted, will be redeployed to those areas if there was a crisis or breakdown of law and order, at which point emergency measures would be swiftly implemented to restore normalcy.
