FG To Flood Rivers, Bayelsa, Delta With Security Personnel

Abuja – Indications emerged on Tuesday that states prone to
electoral violence and malpractices are going to be flooded with
security personnel during the gubernatorial and House of Assembly
elections slated for March 9.

This much was gathered after
President Muhammadu Buhari met with all the service chiefs, including
the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, and the Minister of
Defence, Mansur Dan-Ali.

Among states where security presence
will be much visible are Bayelsa, Rivers, Akwa Ibom, Delta, Edo and a
number of states in the South-West that witnessed killing of the
electorate during the presidential and National Assembly elections which
held on February 23.

The Police IG, who spoke to State House
correspondents on some of the security measures to be adopted, said the
police would visit anyone who engaged in ballot box snatching and
thuggery with ruthlessness.

Adamu revealed that over 300 persons
had been arrested in connection with various irregularities in the
recent polls, noting that as soon as investigations were concluded, they
would be prosecuted in accordance with the law.

“In Bayelsa and
other states within that zone, we have taken notice of the fact that
people there are prone to violence, so we have increased the number of
security personnel that will be posted there.

“Also, we have
increased the intelligence outfit that will be posted there, so as to
help us identify those people that are trying to cause problem, so that
we can take them out of the environment before they cause any problem.
Therefore, there will be increase in security personnel”, he said.

Asked
to comment on alleged partisanship and over-involvement of security
personnel, military inclusive, in the recently held presidential
election, he said the report of local and international observers which
adjudged the process free and fair was enough justification to submit
that the election was transparently done.

According to him,
Nigerians should not engage in voter apathy as security would be
adequately catered for when they come out to exercise their franchise on
March 9.

“Well, as I said before, everybody, the lives of
Nigerians are secured in terms of provision of adequate security to come
out and vote.

“If you judge what you have said with the report
of the international observers and local observers, you will see that
both the local and international observers have adjudged the process to
be peaceful.

“So, pockets of challenges you get here and there
did not affect the peaceful conduct of the elections. The process was
peaceful and credible,” he explained.

On those arrested so far,
he said: “Investigation is ongoing. There is an investigative team that
has been setup, headed by the Commissioner of Police in charge of legal
matters, they are compiling the case files, they are investigating them.

“At the end of the investigation, the police, liaising with INEC will prosecute them.”

The
IG, while giving insight into what transpired at the meeting, said: “We
are all aware of the fact that we just concluded the presidential and
National Assembly elections and we want to congratulate Nigerians for
the peaceful conduct of the elections and we are prepared now for the
governorship and the House of Assembly elections in the country.

“We’ll
like every Nigerian to come out and cast his or her vote. The security
arrangement we provided during the presidential elections is being
enhanced so as to provide enabling environment for everybody to come out
and cast his or her vote for their preferred candidates.

“We
will again advise those that will want to disrupt the process to rethink
because during the presidential election, we had some few challenges
here and there…, we’ll not allow those challenges to repeat themselves.
We are taking more security measures to address those pockets of
challenges we noticed.

“So, thuggery again is not allowed, ballot snatching is not allowed, disruption of the election process is not allowed.

“We,
the security personnel, have resolved to deal ruthlessly with anybody
that attempts to disrupt the process of this election. For that reason,
we expect, in every state, the conduct of the election should be
respected.

“We expect that electoral materials must not be
tampered with, we expect that the INEC officials would do their work
without fear or favour and without being allowed to compromise.

“The same thing, the security personnel are to perform their duties without allowing themselves to be compromised.

“So, we have heightened the security arrangement to make sure that the election goes without any hitch.”

While
fielding questions on the discrepancies that trailed the presidential
election in some states, especially on arrest of hoodlums who tried to
disrupt the process, he said: “We’ve made a number of arrests all over
the country but probably we shall come out with the number of arrest we
have made in terms of those that disputed the process of the election in
some areas within the country. We have a lot of arrests.”

Apart
from the IG, other stakeholders present at the meeting included the
Minister of Defence, Mansur Dan Ali; Chief of Defence Staff, Abayomi
Olonisakin; Chief of Army Staff, Tukur Buratai; Chief of Naval Staff,
Ibok Ekwe Ibas, and Chief of Air Staff, Abubakar Sadique, among other
top security personnel.

Source:- Independentng