IGP appraises Feb. 25 election duty, reveals 203 electoral offenders arrested

*Says 185 major incidents recorded

*As officers, men deployed to election duty were applauded, debriefed

By BASHIR ADEFAKA

The Nigeria Police High Command has disclosed that 203 offenders linked to various electoral offences and sundry crimes have so far been arrested with regard to the Saturday February 25, 2023 presidential and national assembly elections in the country.

Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, made this disclosure at a meeting with Strategic Police Managers on Monday 6th March, 2023, during which about 185 major incidents were responded to by the police across the country during the elections and 18 firearms of various calibres were recovered from political thugs during the electoral exercise.

The police managers included Deputy Inspectors-General of Police and members of the Force Management Team, Assistant Inspectors-General of Police, Commissioners of Police, and heads of tactical investigative and operational units of the Force, and the meeting was held at the Goodluck Jonathan Peacekeeping Hall, Force Headquarters, Abuja.

According to a statement signed by Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, with Ref No. CZ.5300/FPRD/FHQ/ABJ/VOL.5/32, dated 6th March, 2023 and obtained by The DEFENDER on Monday, purpose of the top level security meeting was clearly to review police performances during the elections.

Adejobi said the meeting was “to debrief officers posted for election security management duties and appraise the performance of the Nigeria Police Force at the February 25th Presidential and National Assembly Elections, identify gaps, and perfect the action plan for the forthcoming March 11th Elections.”

The DEFENDER reports that IGP Baba emphasized that the cases of arrest and recovered weapons “are at the various stages of investigation at the Nigeria Police Electoral Offences Desks and assures that they will be concluded and processed to the Legal Department of the Independent National Electoral Commission for prosecution.”

Applause

Similarly, the IGP applauded the high level of resilience, and utmost professionalism displayed by officers and men of the Nigeria Police as well as other security agencies in the course of the election security operations in line with the Reviewed Standard Operational Guidelines and Rules for Police Officers and Other Security Agents on Electoral Duties, which was issued to all officers in the countdown to the election operations.

The Police Spokesman said the IGP equally attributed professionalism of the officers, during the polls, to the various pre-election pieces of training, meticulous planning, massive operational assets procurement and deployment, as well as prioritized welfare.

“The Inspector-General of Police reiterates that the Nigeria Police is committed to evolving pathways to incrementally strengthen the Force’s operational capacity and professional knowledge in navigating through the complex electoral process dynamics to police our democratic heritage and meet the expectations of the electorates,” detailed by CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, mnipr, mipra, the Force PRO, in Abuja on Monday.