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From Molly Kilete, Abuja
The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Usman Baba, said 203 people were arrested for various electoral offences while 18 firearms were recovered from political thugs across the country during the February 25, 2023 presidential and national assembly elections.
The IGP made the disclosure yesterday, when he met with the 36 state Commissioners of Police and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), to brainstorm on the outcome of the just concluded presidential and national assembly elections and strategise for Saturday’s governorship and state assembly elections.
The meeting, which also had strategic police managers in attendance, deliberated on trends and patterns within the post-election security space, and drew inferences on possible threats that may require mitigation ahead of Saturday’s elections.
In his address at the occasion, the IGP commended police personnel for carrying out their duties within the context of the Reviewed Standard Operational Guidelines and Rules for Police Officers and Other Security Agents on Electoral Duties, which was issued to all officers in the countdown to the election operations.
He said the police responded to 185 major incidents across the country during the elections, arrested 203 offenders linked to various electoral offences and sundry crimes and recovered 18 firearms of various descriptions recovered from political thugs. He, however, urged them to brace up for the governorship and state houses of assemblies elections slated for Saturday, to ensure a crisis free process.
Speaking on the aim of the meeting, the IGP said: “It is to interface with and debrief strategic field officers who directly coordinated our election security operations across all the 36 states of the Federation and the FCT during the just concluded Presidential and National Assembly elections. This is towards drawing on their practical experiences for informed feedback that will aid us in evaluating our operational performance and identifying logistics gaps and other challenges that might have been experienced during the exercise.
“Second is to assess the security situation at all levels in the immediate aftermath of the February 25, 2023 elections. This is with a view to identifying trends and patterns within the post-election security space, and draw inferences on possible threats that may require mitigation ahead of the next rounds of the national electoral process on March 11, 2023.
“The third focus of this election security review conference is to draw on our rich and diverse professional experiences in perfecting our action plan for the upcoming governorship and state assembly elections on March 11, 2023 and guaranteeing a stable internal security order ahead of the electoral exercise across the country.
“Democracy is a dynamic process. Election security governance practice is similarly dynamic. By implication, as our democratic culture evolves, the security framework that aids in the advancement of the process must also be continually perfected. As the lead agency in the election security framework, therefore, it is natural that the citizens will continually demand of us a high level security architecture that will deepen their trust and confidence in the electoral process.
“Consequently, we remain duty bound to re-commit ourselves to pathways that will incrementally strengthen our operational capacity and professional knowledge in navigating through the complex dynamics of our electoral process as we strive to police our democratic heritage and meet the expectations of the electorates.
“In this regard, while the presidential and national assembly elections might have presented varying degrees of challenges as captured in the post-election operations feedback that have been received across the various police commands, I am delighted to note, with a high level of satisfaction, the resilience and utmost professionalism which you all displayed in the course of your election security operations.
“I am particularly elated that you situated your operations strictly within the context of the reviewed standard operational guidelines and rules for police officers and other security agents on electoral duties, which was issued to all officers in the countdown to the election operations.
“I am also excited that you all maintained a high level of civility and situated your operations within the dictates of rule of law. Yet, you remained apolitical, firm and supportive of the Independent National Electoral Commission and sacrificed to create an enabling environment for the law-abiding electorates to peacefully exercise their franchise, while denying space for electoral adversaries to manifest their ill-intentions to threaten the overall process.
“Even more soothing is the feedback received to the effect that you responded promptly and courageously to most of the breaches that were recorded and largely mitigated them with the highest level of self-restraint and best global policing standard in the circumstance.
“In your quest to maintain order within the electoral space, you succeeded on a commendable scale in stabilising such threatened space, safely rescued several INEC officials and citizens that were under threats, secured sensitive materials, made series of recoveries, including arms and ammunition of various descriptions as well as effected, in the most professional manner, the arrest of several electoral adversaries nationwide.
“In this regard, of the about 185 major incidents that the police responded to across the country during the elections, a total of 203 offenders linked to various electoral offences and sundry crimes have, so far, been arrested, while not less than 18 firearms of various descriptions were recovered from “political thugs during the exercise. All the cases are at various stages of investigations at the Nigeria Police Electoral Offences Desks and I assure you that in due course, they will be concluded and processed to the legal department of the Independent National Electoral Commission for prosecution.”
