In a rare show of power she constitutionally doesn't have, Nigeria's First Lady Patience Jonathan has reportedly ordered the Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Mbu Joseph Mbu, to release the armed thugs of her close political allies, Senator George Sekibo and Evans Bipi.
The six men were arrested on Friday by the Joint Military Task Force (JTF) in Ogu, the hometown of the two politicians, and they were handed over to the police for prosecution.
But SaharaReporters has authoritatively learned that Mrs. Jonathan ordered Mr. Mbu to release the suspects as well as return to them the arms and ammunition that were found in their possession. It is as yet unclear if Mbu has complied with the order, but Mr. Bipi, a former domestic aide of Mrs. Jonathan, is understood to be actively trying to ensure the release.
Meanwhile a crisis of confidence seems to have erupted between the JTF/Army and the police in Rivers State concerning how the story, which was broken by Saharareporters, leaked to the media. Mbu is said to have complained loudly that the Army/JTF must have leaked the story to the media.
The police commissioner is further said to have lamented that the other security agencies (Army, Navy, Airforce, SSS) in the State are not helping him and the police at all in the fight against Rivers State Governor Rotimi Amaechi. According to our source, he is citing the arrest of the six men and the subsequent leakage of the story as an example of such lack of cooperation, arguing that had the arrest been made by the Rivers State police command, the media would not have heard about it.