Some desperate politicians are allegedly planning to disguise touts as police officers for the purpose of rigging the upcoming Kogi gubernatorial election which is heating up.
IGP Solomon Arase
The Inspector-General of Police, Mr Solomon Arase, said police were aware of plans by some politicians in Kogi to clothe thugs in police uniform during the governorship election in Kogi on Saturday, the Guardian reports.
Arase, who made the disclosure on Tuesday in Lokoja, at a stakeholders’ forum, said that the intention of the perpetrators was to disrupt the election and cause mayhem.
He described the action of those behind the act as “wrong and wasteful investment.” According to him, measures have been taken to properly identify 12, 000 policemen that will be on duty during the election.
“We intend to dominate security space that day; if you want to test our strength, have a rethink,’’ he said.
Arase said that 6,000 out of the 12, 000 policemen who would be on election duty would be drawn from police formations close to Kogi. He said that one unit of mobile policemen would be deployed to each of the 21 local government areas in the state ‘’for effective policing’’.
He said that the men and officers will be backed up by armour personnel carriers, vehicles and other security apparatuses, adding that restriction of movement would be strictly enforced.
The police boss also said that police would be supported by the military, Civil Defence Corps, Immigration, Customs and Federal Road Safety Commission (FRSC) to provide effective security during the poll.