The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) says the unfortunate attack on the Governor of Rivers State, Siminalayi Fubara, by its operatives on Monday, October 30, 2023 in Port Harcourt was not intentional.

The incident occurred along Moscow Road at the entrance of the State House of Assembly Complex adjacent to the Headquarters of the State Police Command.

The Governor was on his way to inspect the extent damage to the Complex owing to the fire incident that occurred on the night of Sunday, October 29, 2023.

“It’s pertinent to state that the Police did not deliberately attack the Governor, or even attempt to hurt anyone let alone the Chief Executive and security officer of the state which it’s our most essential role to protect as being peddled in the news.”

“Due to the present situation, and the misrepresentation in some sections of the media, it is pertinent to make this clarification.”

Fubara had earlier accused the Deputy Commissioner of Police, Operations, Adepoju Olugbenga, of shooting at him, saying some of the security operations were compromised.

“From what I have seen, even the security is compromised because they were shooting at me directly. The DC operations was shooting at me.”

But in a statement by the Public Relations Officer of the State Police Command, Grace Iringe-Koko, a Superintendent of Police, the Nigeria Police Force said it did not receive any prior information that the Governor was in the vicinity.

It further said its operatives led by the Deputy Commissioner, Operations had deployed non-lethal crowd control equipment such as tear gas and water cannons to disperse a crowd of youths who were protesting in front of the Assembly Complex.

“At the entrance of the Complex, it was observed that youths numbering over a hundred had begun a protest to gain access to the Complex and conduct themselves in a manner likely to cause a breach of peace.”

“This led to the Police deploying non-lethal crowd control equipment including tear gas and water cannons to disperse the riotous and uncontrollable protesters.”

“However, some minutes later, another aggressive group of persons approached the entrance of the complex and advanced towards the premises.

“The Police, therefore, engaged them in like manner but observed that the Executive Governor of the State, His Excellency, Siminalayi Fubara, was in their midst.

“The presence of the Governor at the scene was of great surprise and shock as there was no prior communication to the Police on the visit of the Governor to the scene of the crime which ordinarily is the usual protocol and compliments that will accompany his guard for proper safety considering the intelligence of security threat at hand then.”

The statement stressed that, upon noticing the Governor’s presence, DCP Olugbenga took proactive steps to secure him and his entourage as he entered the complex to inspect the damages to the building due to the fire incident.

“In consideration of this, the DC Ops quickly took deliberate security steps to ensure his protection and safety, while the Governor and his entourage went on to assess the level of damage caused by the fire incident.”

The Police high command had earlier acknowledged the situation as unfortunate and announced that an investigation was already to unravel the circumstances surrounding Monday’s incident.