four days to the much awaited governorship election scheduled for Saturday, November 21, in Kogi state, Solomon Arase, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), has disclosed on Tuesday, November 17, that the police were already aware of plans by some politicians in the state to dress thugs in police uniform during the poll.
Speaking at a stakeholders’ forum in Lokoja, the state capital, the police boss said that the intention of the perpetrators was to disrupt the election and cause mayhem.
According to News Agency of Nigeria report, Arase described the action of those behind the act as “wrong and wasteful investment”, stressing that measures have been taken to properly identify 12, 000 policemen that will be on duty during the election.
The police boss said: “We intend to dominate security space that day; if you want to test our strength, have a rethink.”
In his address at the forum, Arase further disclosed that 6,000 out of the 12, 000 policemen who would be on election duty would be drawn from police formations close to Kogi.
He said that one unit of mobile policemen would be deployed to each of the 21 local government areas in the state for effective policing.
He said that the men and officers will be backed up by armour personnel carriers, vehicles and other security apparatuses, adding that restriction of movement would be strictly enforced.
Speaking further, Arase noted that the police would not be alone in the process of safeguarding the state from every form of violence and activities from thugs.
He said that the police would be supported by the military, the Civil Defence Corps, the Immigration, the Customs and Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) to provide effective security during the poll.
Admonishing the people on the election, Arase told the people of the state to feel free to go to polling units and vote for the candidates of their choice, saying a level playing-ground would be provided for all stakeholders.
The IGP said that in line with the security of the state, that the electoral officials are also safe from any threat as other top police officers would be deployed to coordinate police activities before, during and after the election.
Meanwhile, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, the chairman of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), had vowed that the gubernatorial election in Kogi will be free and fair, pointing out that only the state electorates will be deciding the next governor.
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