Edo, Ondo polls: IGP meets with CSOs, assures of Police neutrality, professionalism
The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mohammed Adamu, Monday met with members of the Nigeria Civil Society Situation Room Team, to brainstorm on the conduct of a peaceful elections in the upcoming gubernatorial telections in Edo and Ondo states.
The meeting which took place at the IGP conference room at the police force headquarters in Abuja, had members of the Civil a society group led by Clement Nwankwo.
In his address at the meeting, the Inspector General of Police (IGP), while acknowledging the contributions of CSOs as key actors in electioneering processes in the country, said the meeting was to brainstorm on the challenges ahead in of the upcoming elections in the two states.
Adamu, who commended the group for the role they have been playing in the conduct of elections in the country, said the meeting was aimed at forging a common front for the conduct of a crisis free polls.
He assured that the police would continue to remain neutral and professional in the process and promised to deploy all resources to ensure a level playing field for all parties involved in the elections.
On the likelihood of the outbreak of violence in the elections, the IGP said the police had already deployed intelligence to generate threat analysis which would be used to sustain their processes in elections in both states, to prevent any breakdown of law and order.
“The objective is to share knowledge and compare knowledge especially in regards to experiences with election security in Nigeria.
“We shall have discussions on key indicators of key election security threats especially arming and movements of political thugs, use of inciting statements during political campaigns, the high likelihood of violence, the issue of misinformation and disinformation aimed at heating up the polity.