The brewing tension over insecurity ahead of the September 21 governorship in Edo State deepened, yesterday, as Governor Godwin Obaseki and Chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP, Tony Aziegbemi bickered with the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, over alleged bias of the police against the PDP.
The bickering came as the IGP said 35,000 policemen would be deployed across Edo State for the September 21 governorship election and that another 8,000 from sister security agencies like the armed forces, Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, to complement the police.
Egbetokun stated this at the stakeholders meeting organized by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, where its Chairman, Professor Mahmud Yakubu, disclosed that former Head of State, General Abdulsalami Abubakar, retd., was already in town to preside over the signing of the peace pact by parties and their candidates, today (Thursday).
The event had representatives of the 18 participating political parties, the Inter-Party Advisory Council, IPAC, the palace of the Oba of Benin, civil society groups and others.
In his remarks, Egbetokun also said the suspension of the activities of quasi-security organizations like the Edo State Security Network, ESSN, and others set up by the state government to check insecurity remain suspended and that they have no role to play on the day of election.
He said security aides attached to VIPs would be withdrawn. He reeled out the various election offences and warned that anyone caught violating them would be treated according to the law.
His words: “It is the responsibility of all stakeholders to ensure that elections take place and the security of all is the responsibility of the police and we will be supported by other security agencies to ensure safety. We understand the importance of our role in this election and we will ensure that everything is done in compliance with that.
“We will deploy sufficient personnel for the election. For the Edo State Governorship election, we will deploy 35,000 personnel, there will be another 8,000 from other security agencies to complement us. We have undertaken several measures including a tour of hot spots, engaging stakeholders and operational visits and we will continuously engage all.”
He said all entry and exit points in the state would be manned while movements would be restricted between 6 am and 6 pm and urged the political leaders to warn their members against any form of violence.”
Vanguard
