Ahead of the 2019 elections, Acting Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, has assured the nation and the international community of the police unwavering determination to emplace strategies and initiate actions that will guarantee a peaceful, secure and level-playing field for all political actors and citizens to freely exercise their voting rights.
The Acting IGP gave this assurance, during a meeting with Deputy Commissioners of Police in charge of operations in Abuja on Tuesday. The IGP had about a week ago met with the Assistant Inspectors General of Police in all the 12 Police Zonal Headquarters and Commissioners of Police across the 36 State Commands and the FCT to perfect plans towards the forthcoming general elections.
He said that this approach of engaging strategic actors both within the Nigeria Police Force and across the country, is in line with his determined effort to galvanise all stakeholders towards ensuring optimal professional performance of the Nigeria Police. He added that it is also designed to guarantee the delivery of a peaceful, secure and credible general elections in line with the commitment of President Muhammadu Buhari.
“It is pertinent to mention that the past two weeks of my appointment as Acting Inspector General of Police have 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.
” In this process, I have met with the National Security Adviser and the leadership of the Independent National Electoral Commission under the auspices of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES). 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, the European Union among others,” he said.
He added that the meeting was convened as part of a broad engagement initiative to discuss, evaluate, and perfect the election security plans of the Police in the most inclusive manner.
“We 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.
He stressed that 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.
“The Nigeria Police under my leadership recognises that the credibility of the electoral process is key to the strengthening of our 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,” he noted.
The IGP however, expressed concerned about the disposition of some ill-advised political actors who appear bent on threatening Nigeria’s democratic values and the 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 constitutes not only serious electoral or criminal infractions, but major national security threats,” he said.
The IGP therefore warned the individuals and groups engaged in these unacceptable activities that the Force leadership shall charge the Heads of Operations of the Nigeria Police to return to their Areas of Jurisdiction and do just two things. “Protect the law abiding, but identify, isolate and deal decisively with any political actor that acts in contravention of the Electoral Act or our Criminal Laws. This is our sacred Mandate and this we shall perform within the dictates of the law and in the overriding national security interest.”
The IGP then charged the deputy commissioners to take directives from the Commissioners to coordinate effectively with the Resident Electoral Commissioners in their respective 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,” he charged.
Innocent Odoh, Abuja
