The Inspector-General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, yesterday said that about 404,106 personnel from police and other security agencies will be deployed for the conduct of the February 25 and March 11 elections in the country to ensure the smooth conduct of the exercise.
The IGP also said that the Nigerian authorities are not taking lightly the threat from one Simon Ekpa, who claims to be a member of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), saying that there will not be elections in South-East.
The police boss said all necessary protocols would be respected as he was inciting people from Finland who was outside the country.
He added the police would change the narrative by ensuring that people saw his action of declaring a curfew and asking people not to vote in the Southeast as acts of incitement meant to destabilise the country.
It was reported that Ekpa, who resides in Finland and is allegedly being sponsored by some external forces outside the South-East and a few miscreants within the zone is responsible for the continued lock-down of the economy through the so-called sit-at-home on Mondays and some other designated days.
While appearing at the Ministerial Media Briefing organised by the Presidential Communications Team at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Baba said the threat made by Ekpa against conducting elections in Southeast was an attempt to destabilize the country.
He also said, out of the 404,106 security personnel, the police will be providing 310,973 personnel while the balance will be sourced from complementary security agencies in the country.
Baba also said other security outsides, besides the military and the Department of State Service (DSS), will complement the efforts of the police with a total of 93,133 personnel, bringing all to 404, 106 personnel.
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“Nigeria police will deploy 310,973 personnel for the elections security operations. This will comprise the conventional policemen, the mobile policemen, the special counterterrorism unit, the Special Forces, the intelligence response team, and other sections of the police.
“The manpower requirement for this exercise will be complemented by the military and other security agencies. In this regard, aside from the military and the DSS, other security agencies will contribute a total of 93,495 personnel for election security operations.
“These include the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence, which will deploy, through the Police, 51,000 personnel; the Federal Road Safety Corps, 21,000; Nigerian Correctional Service 11,336; the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, 9,447; Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, 350, totalling 404,106 to police the elections.
“With this layout, a minimum of at least two personnel, drawn from the above agencies, will be jointly deployed to man each of the polling units across the country while the armed personnel will secure the public space, INEC facilities, vulnerable locations, border areas, as well as undertake armed escort duties for INEC personnel, materials, and local and international observers.
“We also expect the military to complement this situation by providing armed protection to critical national assets, ensure that the enforcement of movements is curtailed through the blocking of exit points and entry points to various states, local governments, and so forth”, he said.
The police boss said an intelligence unit had been put in place to track and apprehend those who might engage in vote buying and others who might want to disrupt the exercise.
“As part of efforts to address the menace of votes selling and buying, a special intelligence unit of the force has been constituted to clandestinely monitor the trend and work with EFCC, ICPC, and INEC in identifying the network that may be involved in this illegality and apprehend them where possible.
“In addition, the unique technical intelligence assets of the force are also being deployed towards identifying adverse elements that may be planning to disrupt the process. Through this initiative, such elements will be identified in real-time, geo-located, isolated, arrested, and brought to justice”, he said.
The police boss listed some threats against the conduct of the elections including fuel scarcity and cash squeeze but assured that the situation with both will stabilize before the commencement of the exercise.
“We are very sure the situation of cash and petrol will stabilize before the conduct of the election,” he stated.
Alkali asserted that an intelligence unit is in place to track and apprehend those who may engage in vote buying and others who may want to disrupt the exercise.
On the red zones, he said, “The force has identified the following major crimes that could negatively impact the peaceful Democratic trajectory.
“We looked at offenses like banditry and terrorism which is majorly located in the North-East geo-political zone, violent secessionist campaigns by elements of the Indigenous People of Biafra, and the Eastern Security Network which has been targeting the symbols of democratic governance including INEC assets, police stations, and personnel, military and other agencies as well as state government officials, and traditional institutions, all to attain or disrupt the 2023 general elections.
“We also have this growing misguided activities of the Oduduwa nation agitators who from intelligent sources of late are attempting to also attempt to destabilise the situation.
“We have this issue of illegal small arms and light weapons trafficking which are being used to bring a lot of problems. We have issues including cybercrimes, cyberbullying, kidnapping, and all sorts.
“So, generally, the situation as it is against this background, the focus of the force has been to upscale our operational activities to stabilize these situations to ensure that the election takes place.
“We have in place certain strategic operational and tactical measures to ensure a peaceful electioneering atmosphere in Nigeria.”
On what the police would do to address post-election challenges and the preparation to ensure elections were held in South-East and North-West, the IGP said the force was ready with the use of minimum force, adding that “We are prepared to confront any situation that requires special intervention from simplest to violent ways of confronting rioters.”
The IGP absolved the police of any blame over the low prosecution of electoral offenders, saying “the Electoral Act as amended gives us the latitude to investigate but not to prosecute. We have done much but prosecution is very low”.
