A new Commissioner of Police has been posted to Rivers State on the orders of the Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba.

The new Police Commissioner for the State is Nwonyi Polycarp Emeka, who takes over the mantle of leadership from the incumbent, Okon Effiong.

Effiong, whose tour of duty ends with the arrival of Nwonyi, has also been redeployed to head the Department of Finance and Administration/Information and Communication Technology (DFA/ICT) at Force Headquarters, Abuja.

This development was announced via a statement by the Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), on Thursday, May 25, 2023.

CP Nwonyi comes to the Rivers State security environment with stunning resourcefulness, strategic sagacity and knowledge base.  

Nwonyi, who is a Professor of Peace Philosophy, holds a Doctor of Philosophy degree in Applied Psychology, three Master’s degrees in Business Administration (MBA), Public Administration (MPA), and Philosophy (MPhil), Post-Graduate Diploma in Management, and Bachelor of Science (Hons) degree in Psychology.

He is also a lawyer, fellow of several professional institutes, including Institute of Chartered Economists of Nigeria, Institute of Credit and Risk Management, Charted Institute of Local Government and Public Administration of Nigeria, Center for Human Right and Gender Equality (CHURGE) at Tai Solarin University of Education (TASUED).

He also has certification from the Association of Certified Fraud Examiners (ACFE), Lagos Nigeria Chapter.

His antecedents apparently project the hope that some of the teething security challenges confronting the State at the moment would be given the need bashing they require.

Flashpoints such as Rumuji, Igbo-Etche, Ogoni, among others that have outlived several police commissioners deployed to the State would need Nwonyi’s attention.