By Austen Yong

The deceit has lingered too long in Rivers state, that the name Mbu, is synonymous with police misadventure. Mbu Joseph Mbu was Commissioner of Police, Rivers state from February 2013 to February 2014 . He left no one in doubt that he was his own man and would not tolerate manipulations, political influence and over bearing in his job .

Politicians who were not used to having police chiefs not licking their boots, detested Mbu to the core and set up a propaganda machinery to run him down and run him out of town.

Unfortunately, the mischief caught fire and hung in the air, so much so that people who knew nothing about Mbu or what transpired in Rivers state latched on the evils that were spurned around him.

For those following current political developments in Rivers State, it is hard to miss Chief Chijioke Ihunwo in the media space. He is, as at today pitching his tent with the State Governor, Sir Siminalaye Fubara, against Nyesom Wike, the FCT Minister. Fubara and Wike were political father and son, but embroiled in what appears to be irreconcilable differences.

In Rivers State, such political cataclysms have gained roots. It happened between elder statesman Dr. Peter Odili and his political son, Chibuike Rotimi Amaechi. It happened between Amaechi and His bossom friend, Wike. All former governors of the state at some point have been at loggerheads with each other. Now, it is the turn of Wike and Fubara.

Naturally, when political gladiators in the state engage in their selfish fights , the little politicians are polarized along the divides that serve their stomach infrastructure. The rest people of the state suffer.

So it is not surprising that Ihunwo, who is from same LGA as Wikr, is on the side of the incumbent governor. Obio /Akpor is among the five richest LGAs in Nigeria. LGA Chairmen who flexed muscles with Fubara and wanted to over stay their welcome, were swept off like chaffs in the wind by one simple radio announcement from the governor. So Ihunwo must guard his space jealously,.

However, what drew my attention to the report of his media briefing was his alleged advise to policemen to “remember Mbu who, is somewhere now and not picking calls.”

Ihunwo was probably in his diapers , 11 years ago when Mbu left Rivers state. So I felt he was quoted out of context. There was an equally faceless ex commissioner without a name, who claimed in a television interview that ex president Goodluck Ebele Jonathan used Mbu to install Wike as Governor of Rivers State in 2015.

Mbu left Rivers state in February 2014. In 2015 , he was AIG Zone 2 , Onikan Lagos , covering Lagos and Ogun states. Such misinformation and mischief appear to remain in Rivers state .

So I wrote to Ihunwo to correct the impression and I asked him to render a public apology to Mbu, a legendary cop by all ramifications. Ihunwo’s boys collected my letter from the dispatch man, took it upstairs to meet with Ihunwo while the dispatch man was expecting the acknowledgement copy. But the boys returned and started bullying him and thrust the letter back in his face. A clear symptomatic mannerism of political thugs It dawned on me that Ihunwo knew what he was doing . Who on earth will bully a paid messenger, if not a coward. But we must correct the narrative about Mbu , for posterity .

Acquaintance with Mbu
I knew Mbu when he was CP Rivers State and I have followed him till date . His consistency in character traits are as unassailable as his distinguished and unblemished record of service .The Mbu image that is painted in Rivers state was created by political ignoramuses to score cheap points about the lion they tried unsuccessfully to cage but could not.

How Mbu was posted to Rivers as CP

Mbu had barely spent six months in Oyo state as Commissioner of Police when he received a midnight call to resume work in Port Harcourt at 08:00hrs the following morning or get queried. He had heard from the grapevine of his imminent transfer a week earlier but felt it was not true. He ruminated over his achievements in the past six months, his clash with the State Governor and subsequent reconciliation. It was not a fancy idea to go to Rivers state .

Mbu had already started enjoying Oyo state police Command. He had remodelled the old dilapidated and abandoned CP quarters into the best CP residence in Nigeria. He had rehabilitated all nine abandoned Police Armoured Personnel Carriers, APCs, withdrew all police personnel working with the State government’s Operation Burst because the police provided 85% of the personnel while the Army and other security personnel commanded the outfit. And Mbu would have none of that.

He had also arrested and charged to court, two dreaded and notorious NURTW kingpins known as Tokyo and Auxillary for murder. He sent the Ashafa who was contending over the stool of the Alaafin of Oyo to flee from his palace, with a simple message that you can’t have two kings in one kingdom.

On December 24, 2012 , while in the State Executive Council Meeting , the state governor, late Ishaq Ajumobi had enthused: ” Gentlemen, this is the first time in Ibadan that we have not witnessed any single bank robbery or any robbery at all during Christmas. Please let us commend the new CP, Mbu Joseph.”

Four months later , while in Port Harcourt , the Oyo State House of Assembly will write to the IGP to release Mbu , to attend a commendation session in his honour in the hallowed Assembly complex .

Mbu left Ibadan by road at 4:00am. Got a 6:45am flight from Lagos to Port Harcourt. At the Port Harcourt International Airport, Omagwa, he met a detachment of policemen led by the deputy commissioner in charge of operations, DC Joshak Habila. No, they were not there to receive him. Habila told him they were expecting the nation’s First Lady, Dame Dr. Patience Jonathan from Abuja. Mbu quickly changed into his uniform.

Looking ever sharp and smart, he joined in receiving the First Lady. That was his first meeting with Patience Jonathan. But the story that made the rounds was that the First Lady brought him to resume as CP, Rivers and to checkmate the state governor, Amaechi, who was transiting from the PDP to the APC. Amaechi himself popularized that story .

Black spot in a glorious career.

Serving as Commissioner of Police , Rivers State , turned out to be the lowest point of Mbu’s Police career . But it also threw him up as a bold , courageous , independent minded professional who truly served Rivers people , rather than political interests , that he was falsely accused of. In all his postings as DPO , Area Commander , Assistant Commissioner Admin, Director , Police Education Directorate , CP Nigeria Police Mobile Force , CP Oyo State Command , CP Rivers State Command , CP FCT Command , AIG Zone 7, comprising FCT , Kaduna and Niger States, as at then , AIG Zone 2 Lagos, comprising Lagos and Ogun states and finally, Commandant , Police Staff College, Jos , it is in Rivers state only that mischievous politicians calibrated their evil propaganda on Mbu because he worked with a governor who saw the Commissioner of Police as an extension of his civil commissioners and private staff . But the no nonsense Lion, would have non of that . For his sterling qualities , all true Rivers people celebrated Mbu, they collaborated with him and contributed massively to his success story in Rivers state .

Mbu’s impact as CP in Rivers
The impact Mbu made as CP Rivers were too outstanding to be ignored:
i. Crime rate was at its lowest in his one year stewardship .
ii. Gangsterism was eclipsed
iii. Mbu , as CP Rivers received Award in Johannesburg, South Africa ,as the Best Crime Bursting Police Chief in West Africa, and the Rivers State Command under him , was named the best policed state in Nigeria .
iv. Mbu was the only CP Rivers , who before him and probably after him , did not own one single property in Port Harcourt , or anywhere in Rivers State .

✓ Check the records , in the history of elections in Nigeria , at least from 1999 – 2023 , it was in 2015 only that election was peaceful in Lagos state and no one died. Mbu was the AIG , Zone 2, covering Lagos and Ogun states . A single statement from him drove urchins and political thugs underground . They dared not raise their ugly heads .
✓. The election in Lagos beat every political pundits’ imagination, so much so , that the Crime Reporters Association of Nigeria , CRAN , inducted him into the CRAN Hall of Fame in May 2015 , six months ahead of their annual Award events . Their fear was that , Mbu could be transfered any moment . And that was exactly what happened . He was transferred to the highest Police College in Nigeria , the Police Staff College, Jos for a touch of his excellence and expertise , and from where he was compulsorily retired along with 21 others .

Premature retirement
Mbu was among 22 Assistant Inspectors General of Police prematurely retired by the Police Service Commission in 2016. He challenged this at the Industrial Court and won his case . The Police Service Commission went on appeal and lost.

If Nigeria were to be a country where people respected dignity and honour in service , Mbu would be much sort after by each succeeding government , irrespective of political divide . At least no one has accused him of being corrupt. If he was , politicians would have roasted him alive .

It was Adolf Hitler , the Chancellor of the German fourth Reich , who said : ” A ceaseless and unremitting use of propaganda , can make people believe that heaven is hell or , conversely that the most miserable existence is paradise.” This was what happened to Mbu in Rivers State . And it was fuelled by belly aching politicians that are mentors to the likes of Chijioke Ihunwo.

Former Governor Raji Fashola of Lagos state had told Mbu , “I won’t judge you by what I read in the newspapers but by your work with me . That is how reasonable and cultured leaders should think .

His Excellency , Bala Mohammed , present governor of Bauchi state when he was FCT Minister , had objected to Mbu being posted to the FCT as CP. Two months later, he told the IGP, MD Abubakar, “Why didn’t you send Mbu to me all this while”. Crime rate was at its lowest when Mbu was CP , FCT. His innovative policing style saw drastic changes in Abuja and impacted on the governance of the FCT.

It will be the height of tomfoolery to even remotely think that Mbu was taking orders from any politician , or that he was dumped by any politician after using him. On the contrary , it was the Mbu phenomenon that tamed political rascals and oppressors in Rivers state , thus providing a level playing ground for all political actors in the state. Those who were on self exile returned home too . Ihunwo and his likes should learn the power of independent reasoning , if they must go forward in life . Mbu is his own man .