Tony John, Port Harcourt
Commissioner of Police in Rivers State, Usman Belel, has warned political thugs that security agencies are prepared to deal with them if they attempt to disrupt Saturday’s governorship and House Assembly elections.
Belel vowed that the police would prosecute anyone arrested violating the electoral process and the order of police.
He spoke in Port Harcourt after the meeting of Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), on providing adequate security for the polls.
Belel noted that police have deployed 15,544 staff for the elections, adding that other sister security agencies in the state, would provide about 2,000 personnel to monitor the polls.
He maintained that the police would remain apolitical and professional in the discharge of their duties during the elections in the state, and advised miscreants to shun violence.
He said: “As part of the security arrangement for the elections, the command is deploying 15,544 personnel to be complemented by the deployment from other sister agencies to cover and protect the 23 LGAs, 319 wards, 4,442 pulling units.
“This is to ensure full security coverage of the process with three security personnel each posted to a polling unit. There will also be an outer perimeter deployment of armed men to guide against infiltration and hijacking of the process by hoodlums or persons that want to ferment trouble.
He also noted that all the exit and entry points into the state would be blocked by security personnel, adding that there would be a restriction of human and vehicular movement in the state from midnight on Friday, to 6pm on Saturday.