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Tony John, Port Harcourt, Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin and Paul Orude, Bauchi
Ahead of Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections, the Rivers State Police Command has deployed 15,555 of its personnel to ensure a hitch-free exercise.
The Rivers State Commissioner of Police, Usman Belel, disclosed this yesterday when he addressed journalists on their preparedness to achieve hitch-free polls.
The CP stated that, with the formation of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Elections Security (ICCES), adequate security would be provided before, during and after the polls.
He warned that movement of people on election day would be restricted, except those on essential duties, adding that notable personalities and politicians were also barred from going to any voting centre with their police orderlies.
He also announced that all entry and exit points in Rivers would be blocked until the elections were over.
The CP demanded strict compliance with the orders, warning that defaulters would be arrested and prosecuted accordingly.
He emphasised that there would be religious adherence to the prohibition order, “as same is intended to provide a conductive atmosphere for free, fair, credible and violence-free elections that will stand the test of time.”
This is even as police, yesterday, sprayed tear-gased aggrieved National Assembly candidates of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State who staged a peaceful protest at the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), along Aba Road, Port Harcourt.
The aggrieved APC supporters in their hundreds had besieged the INEC office as early as 6am, demanding to hear from the Rivers State Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) about their party’s fate concerning the Saturday presidential and National Assembly elections.
The protesters accused INEC of being in a hurry to delist the names of APC candidates based on the orders of a Federal High Court, but has been reluctant to obey the order of the Appeal Court, which stayed the first orders.
The REC had assured the protesters that the INEC in the state would not fail to implement any orders, as long as there is a signal from the commission in Abuja, which, he said, was the base of authority.
He also told the protesters that state INEC was not in any position to make any order, but promised to communicate the development to the national headquarters for immediate action. The protesters remained adamant and forced their way beyond the restricted area, compelling the police to disperse them to forestall anarchy.
Meanwhile, the Edo State Police Commissioner, Hakeem Odumosu, yesterday, said 15,000 security personnel, comprising the police, army, air force, Prisons, DSS, Civil Defence Corps, Immigration and Federal Road Safety Corps, would be deployed to provide security during the general election on Saturday in the state.
He disclosed this after a show of force by a combined team of security personnel through the main streets of Benin, the state capital.
Odumosu promised to provide a level playing field for all political parties in the elections in the state, just as he cautioned troublemakers and thugs to beware as security operatives would stop those who want to foment trouble during the election.
