The Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, has ordered the Special Weapons and Tactics (SWAT) unit of the Nigeria Police to quit the premises of Euphemie Motel, which it occupied inside Opu-Nembe in the Bassambiri community of Nembe local government area of the Bayelsa State.
This was contained in a letter signed by the counsel to the owner of the Euphemie Motel, Inemoye Maxwell Brown Esq., dated October 9, 2024, and made available to LEADERSHIP Friday in Yenagoa.
The order to quit the premises was issued following the threat to drag the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, to court over the alleged unpaid debt incurred by the SWAT team deployed from August 12, 2023, to date.
According to the report, the lodging debt was incurred by the Police Special Squad, identified as SWAT and led by CSP Silas Adebayo, for a reported sting operation in the Opu Nembe community ahead of the last governorship elections in the area.
The SWAT team had allegedly invaded the Opu Nembe community and occupied the Euphemie Motel, turning it into their operational base without due permission from its owners. They were allegedly drafted to the area on the request of the former Minister of State for Petroleum Resources and the Governorship flag bearer of the All Progressive Congress (APC) in the last election.
The counsel to the owner of the motel, Brown Esq., confirmed to newsmen that the Nigerian Police, “as a respectable and responsible establishment, has gracefully implemented on the prayer one as contained therein within the time frame provided as the SWAT team vacated our client’s hotel on the 3rd day of October 2024”.
However, he called on the IGP and the top echelon of the Nigerian Police to attend with utmost dispatch to the second prayer in the client’s petition requesting that the sum of N625,000,000 only covering the above period from August 12, 2023, to September 12, 2024, be paid within six weeks of receiving the correspondence.
Recall that the popular hotel owner, Euphemie Motel, had, through his prayers, informed the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, and the Chairman of the Police Service Commission that the 50-bedroom hotel with a lodging fee of N25,000 per night and two conference rooms of N100,000 per day, with indoor and outdoor relaxation spots, was occupied by the Police Personnel without payment for over 13 months.
