FG Begins Manhunt Of Simon Ekpa
THE Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Mr. Usman Alkali Baba, on Thursday, February 16, said about 404,106 personnel from Police and other security agencies would be deployed for the conduct of the February 25 and March 11 elections in the country to ensure smooth conduct of the exercise.
Baba also said the Nigerian authorities were not taking lightly, the threat from Simon Ekpa, who claims to be a member of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and has vowed that there would not be elections in Southeast.
The IGP said all necessary protocols would be respected, because he was inciting people from Finland, adding the Police would change the narrative by ensuring that people saw Ekpa’s declaration of curfew and asking them not to vote in the Southeast as acts of incitement meant to destabilise the country.
Ekpa, who resides in Finland, allegedly being sponsored by some external forces outside the Southeast and few miscreants within the zone, are said to be responsible for the continuous lockdown of the economy through the so-called sit-at-home on Mondays and some other designated days.
He also said out of the 404,106 security personnel, the Police would be providing 310,973, while the remaining would be provided by other security agencies. Specifically, Baba said besides the military and the Department of State Service (DSS), other security agencies would complement the efforts of the Police with of 93,133 personnel, bringing the total to 404, 106 personnel.
“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, 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 the military and the DSS, other security agencies will contribute a total of 93,495 personnel for the election security operations. These include the Nigerian Security and Civil Defense, which will deploy, through the Police, 51,000 personnel; the Federal Road Safety Corps (FRSC), 21,000; Nigerian Correctional Service, 11,336; the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency, 9,447 and Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, 350, totaling 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 compliment this situation by providing armed protection to critical national assets, ensure that the enforcement of movements are 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, adding: “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 initiate, such elements will be identified real time, geo-located, isolated, arrested and brought to justice.”
Baba listed some threats against the conduct of the elections to include fuel scarcity and cash crunch, but assured that the situation with both would stabilise before the commencement of the exercise.
On the red zones, he said: “The Force has identified major crimes that could negatively impact on the peaceful democratic trajectory. We looked at offenses, like banditry and terrorism, which is majorly located in the northeast geo political zone, violent secessionist campaigns by elements of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) and the Eastern Security Network (ESN), 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 in an effort to attain or disrupt the general election.
“We also have these growing misguided activities of the Oduduwa nation agitators, who from intelligent sources of late, are attempting to also attempting 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 cyber crimes, cyber bullying, 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 stabilise 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 preparation to ensure elections were held in Southeast and Northwest, the IGP said the Force was ready, with the use of minimum force, adding: “We are prepared to confront any situation that requires special intervention from simplest to violent ways of confronting rioters.”
He absolved the Police of blame over low prosecution of electoral offenders, saying: “The Electoral Act, as amended, gives us latitude to investigate, but not to prosecute. We have done much, but prosecution is very low.”
