NAN – Mr Bala Hassan, Assistant Inspector General of Police in-charge of zone 10, Sokoto, said on Thursday that about 18,000 security personnel had been mobilised to three states for the April 11 elections.
Hassan told the News Agency of Nigeria in Sokoto that the states were Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara.
The AIG said that the deployment was to ensure peaceful and successful conduct of the governorship and state assembly elections in those states.
Hassan said the security officers drawn from the police, state security services, immigration, customs and civil defense, would provide security during the polls.
He said already, effective operation order on how to provide an enabling environment in all polling units in the three states had been issued to the personnel.
The AIG further said the police in the zone had fine-tuned its method of operations to prevent any form of electoral malpractice.
“We have taken concrete security measure to improve on what we have done in the presidential election to ensure peaceful conduct of the governorship election,” he said.
Hassan said that the zone did not record any outbreak of law and order during the last election because of the prompt action taken in confronting any security threat .
He explained that the three commissioners of police had been directed to carefully monitor the exercise in their respective areas of jurisdiction.
“We have done it in the last Presidential and National Assembly elections and we are battle-ready to do the same to enable eligible electorates exercise their civic responsibility in a peaceful atmosphere,” he said.
Hassan warned trouble-makers to stay away from the zone as a formidable security measures were in place to deal with any person or group found tempering with the peaceful nature of the area.
“We will not tolerate any form of political violence as the police anti- thuggery units are battle-ready to exercise their constitutional responsibility,” he stressed.
