By Dele Ogbodo
The Acting Inspector General of Police (IG), Mr. Mohammed Adamu, has said the Police is ready and perfecting its security plans
that will guarantee a free and fair election come February 16.
At the meeting held on Tuesday in Abuja with Deputy Commissioners of Police in Charge of Operations, he acknowledged his meeting with the National Security Adviser (NSA) and the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission under the auspices of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES).
According to him, the Police will also review the national security threat assessment report as received from different security sources and evolve pathways towards mitigating them ahead of the elections.
The meeting, he averred was convened as part of this broad engagement initiative to discuss, evaluate, and perfect the election security plans of the Police in the most inclusive manner.
He said: “The citizens and indeed, the international community are looking up to the Nigeria Police to secure the public space well enough to give the electorates the confidence and freedom to freely exercise their electoral rights.
“This expectation is legitimate and the responsibility for meeting it is that of the entire officers of the Nigeria Police, particularly, the Commissioners of Police ably assisted by you, the Heads of police operations across all Police Commands who are here seated. It is in cognisance of your critical roles that I summon you for this meeting today.”
Adamu, said the past two weeks of appointment in acting capacity as IG has been committed to engaging strategic stakeholders towards defining new pathways that will ensure quality security service delivery by the Police as well as guarantee a credible electoral outcome.
“This approach of engaging strategic actors both within the Nigeria Police Force and across the country, is in line with my determined effort to galvanise all stakeholders towards ensuring optimal professional performance of the Nigeria Police.
“It is also designed to guarantee the delivery of peaceful, secure and credible general elections in line with the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“I have also engaged the Nigeria Civil Society Election Situation Room, a cross section of Traditional Rulers and a delegation comprising of Ambassadors of the United Kingdom, France, Germany, and the European Union (EU).”
According to him, the credibility of the electoral process is key to the strengthening of the democratic credentials, national security and global perception and respect. We are conscious of our critical roles in this process and are determined more than ever before to perform these roles within the dictates of the law and with due respect to citizens’ rights.
“We, however, remain genuinely concerned about the disposition of some ill-advised political actors who appear bent on threatening our democratic values and our national security all in their desperation to project their narrow political interests over and above national interests.
“We are also concerned about subversive actors who masquerade as politicians and are taking advantage of the freedoms that our democracy has bestowed on the citizens to encourage hate speeches and misinformation, and inflame passion in a manner that could threaten our stable political order.
“Equally worrisome are reports of firearms build-up by some political actors and threats in some other quarters to disrupt the electoral process.
“We also note an increasing level of political intolerance which has been occasioning pockets of inter-party violence and destruction of campaign billboards across the country. All of these constitute not only serious electoral or criminal infractions, but major national security threats.” The IG said.
He charged his men to isolate and deal decisively with any political actor that acts in contravention of the Electoral Act or our Criminal Laws, stressing that this is the sacred mandate as it shall be performed within the dictates of the law and in the overriding national security interest.
Adamu said: “As you return to your Commands, you are hereby charged to under the directives of your CPs, coordinate effectively with the Resident Electoral Commissioners in your States
“Avail yourselves of the pieces of critical information provided by your Resident Electoral Commissioners and utilize them effectively in perfecting all arrangements for effective deployment of personnel and logistics
“Perfect an advanced plan for the mobilization and deployment of personnel from sister security agencies that will be available to complement the Police during the elections. Emplace adequate security architecture for the security of INEC personnel, facilities, and all electoral materials
“Emplace adequate arrangement for the safety and security of all local and international observers as may be accredited by INEC
“Orientate all personnel on the need to perform their electoral security functions within the dictates of the Electoral Act, the Fundamental Human Rights provision of the Constitution, and the Code of Conduct developed and approved for Police Personnel on Election Duties by the Police Service Commission.
“Undertake concerted raids of black spots with a view to frustrating elements that could constitute a threat to a peaceful electoral process
“Be conscious of the directive touching on the withdrawal of security aides from political office holders and other personalities and commit to enforcing the order on the day of the elections.
“Undertake a ‘Show of Force’ operation in conjunction with other security agencies in order to strengthen public confidence on the readiness of the Police and other sister security agencies for the elections.
“Emplace strategies to give effect to my recent directives to mop-up illicit firearms in circulation as part of the broad strategies directed at addressing the threat of electoral violence.
“I wish to once again, assure the nation and the international community of the full preparedness of the Nigeria Police for the general elections.”