Why Police May Not Arrest Anyone Engaged In Vote Buying – Adejobi

The Nigeria Police Force has declared that it will not and cannot arrest any electorate involved in vote buying in Saturday’s off-cycle governorship election in Kogi, Bayelsa and Imo State.

Naija News reports that Force Public Relations Officer, Force Headquarters, Abuja, Prince Olumuyiwa Adejobi, stated this while attending to questions from journalists on the Channels Television programme on Friday night.

Adejobi, who was explaining the rule of engagement in the November 11 election, said police operatives have no right to make arrests at the polling unit unless asked to do so by electoral officers.

Earlier, the PPRO allayed fears, saying there is no cause for alarm concerning the Saturday governorship election in Bayelsa State.

Naija News understands that Adejobi stated this on the backdrop of the recent protest in Bayelsa State.

On Friday, the command headquarters in Yenagoa, Bayelsa State witnessed the dispersal of a group of women by the Police officers. These women had stormed the headquarters, demanding the removal of the Commissioner of Police, Tolani Alausa, whom they accused of bias.

However, in an interview on Channels TV’s Politics Today, Adejobi expressed that the deployments had already started yielding positive results.

He said, “I am sure that the DIG in charge of election in Bayelsa State has reacted to that. There was a protest in Bayelsa, but I don’t know much about it. Every Nigerian read it in the news, and the DIG had reacted to that. So there is no cause for alarm. Everybody has the right to protest.

“There are very senior officers on the ground. The senior officers on the ground were able to assess the situation and respond properly. I am sure that they have taken the right decision in Bayelsa. I can assure you that our deployments are already paying off.”

Kogi Poll: You Will Know How Powerful We Are If You Try To Test Our Capacity – Police Warns

Meanwhile, the Nigerian Police Force in Kogi State has warned individuals who plan on causing mayhem in Saturday’s polls to have a rethink or face the full wrath of the law.

The Deputy Inspector General of Police, DIG Ahmed Habu Sani, who is in charge of maintaining security during the Kogi governorship election, gave the warning on Friday while speaking with newsmen in Lokoja.

He noted that the police are heavily prepared for the election.

“Any person that will want to test our capacity, ability in the smooth conduct of the election will know the various powers that we have,” he said.

The police boss states that the force has deployed enough security men to operate each of the 3508 polling units and 239 wards in the 21 local government areas of the state.

He said the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies are well prepared regarding manpower and logistics to ensure that the election in Kogi state is peaceful and successful.

The DIG also appealed to the people of the state to contribute their quota for the peaceful conduct of the election, urging them to give useful information that would assist security agencies in performing their duties creditably.

“I am calling on the good people of Kogi State to be law abiding and be supportive of security agencies to discharge their mandate for the peaceful, free fair and acceptable elections in this state,” the DIG said.