From Molly KILETE. Abuja
The acting Inspector General of Police(IGP), Ibrahim Idris, has approved the deployment of an additional 25,000, Police personnel to Edo State to ensure a crisis-free elections in the state.
The 25,000, personnel comprises men of the Police Mobile Force (PMF), Counter Terrorism Units (CTU), the Anti bomb Squad (EOD), the Marine Police and the conventional police.
Also deployed to monitor a smooth and crisis-free elections are personnel from the police Armament Units, Force criminal Intelligence and Investigation Department (FCIID), Force Intelligence Bureau (FIB) and the Sniffer Dog Section.
The IGP, who made this known yesterday in Abuja, said the deployment is to ensure the safety of life and property before, during and after the elections.
He said that in addition to the 25,000, personnel, police helicopters would also carry out aerial surveillance and Gun Boats patrol, adding that 10 additional Armoured Personnel Carriers and 550 patrol vehicles will be deployed to cover all the polling units, rack centers, collating centres, riverine areas and difficult terrains.
The IGP, in a statement signed by the force public relations officer, Don Awunah, called on the people of EDO, to be law abiding as the police would not fail to apply the full wrath of the law on any person or group of persons found violating the Electoral Act.
The IGP, while assuring the electorate and all law abiding citizens of adequate security throughout the elections, equally enjoined them to cooperate with the police in the discharge of their duties as the security personnel will operate within the framework of democratic policing.