The Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu Tuesday blamed the incidence of ballot box snatching, attacks on voting stations and snatching of electoral materials in the just concluded Kogi and Bayelsa gubernatorial elections on the “ activities of fake Police”
This is just as he disclosed that eleven political thugs , two in Bayelsa and nine in Kogi were arrested for various electoral offenses during the elections
The IGP who was responding to questions while briefing the State House Correspondents after the security meeting with President Muhammmadu Buhari, also disclosed that government plans at tackling insecurity was gaining traction as less security tensions were recorded in recent times
Adamu attributed the reduced cases of kidnappings , violent attacks, communal conflicts and robbery on the proactive strategies of the combined security agencies
But speaking on the just concluded elections, Adamu admitted that the police helicopter which shoot tear gas at Kogi voters was patrolling the sky to deter potential trouble makers and ballot box snatching
According to the IGP the police “had mobilized massively for the elections following the security reports before the elections that there would be violence in the two states”
He confirmed that there were reports before the polling day that politicians were sewing police and army uniforms for thugs in preparation for the exercise.
“ We realized that there were going to be violence in Kogi and Bayelsa and therefore mobilized massively, because at the point of signing peace accord, we knew that there were going to be violence, because of the ways the politicians were behaving”
He disclosed that the Police decided to provided identification tags for its personnel deployed for election duties to differentiate them from the “ fake police”
The police boss said people in police or army uniforms who did not have the tags and were fake.
Speaking on reported cases of kidnapping in Edo and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT, Adamu said the Police has created a tactical squad to tackle kidnaping in the states , adding that the security agencies were working with the Minister of the FCT to tackle insecurity at the Federal Capital Territory.
Tony Ailemen, Abuja
