With just two months to the 2023 general elections, security has been beefed up at the offices and facilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) across the country.
In facilities located in the most volatile states, troops, policemen, operatives of the Department of State Services (DSS) and personnel of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) have taken sentry at INEC offices while in some more secure states, policemen and vigilantes guard the offices.
A nationwide observation of INEC offices across the country showed that the security agencies formed joint teams to protect the facilities from hoodlums and arsonists who have launched several attacks and destroyed the commission’s offices and election materials.
Last week, the inspector-general of police (IGP), Mr Alkali Baba, declared that the police authorities would not allow further attacks on INEC offices again, stating that the police had taken drastic security measures to protect INEC offices and personnel. He warned the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) to refrain from attacking the electoral body’s offices.
In Imo State, for instance, when LEADERSHIP visited the commission’s office, scores of various security personnel, made up of the Police, Army, Civil Defence and DSS, had been deployed at its offices in the state because of the frequency of attacks.
This came barely 24 hours after hoodlums attacked and vandalised the INEC office in the Isu Local Government Area (LGA), making it the fourth of such incidents in Imo in less than three weeks. Other attacks were recorded at Orlu and Oru West LGAs as well as the state headquarters in Owerri.
Speaking with our Correspondent, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Prof. Sylvia Agu, revealed that “security men have been deployed, stationed in those areas. At the headquarters, we have the Army, the Civil Defence, Police and the DSS.
“In the various local governments, we are using vigilante groups; we are using Ebubeagu group too and we have 100 percent assurance from the security men – not just giving us the assurance, they are already on the ground,” she said.
According to her: “That particular building housing the election party monitoring department (EPM), security, the transport office, and some of the accounts building was attacked by the hoodlums. But we thank God because it did not affect our sensitive materials.”
Speaking on the implications of the attacks on INEC’s operations in the state, Agu highlighted that the commission had backups to ensure it did not suffer a significant loss of data.
“We are aware that we’re vulnerable and because of that, we normally create backups in case of those types of incidents, so that when it happens, we can always lay our hands on our backups,” she said.
The REC stated that permanent voter cards (PVCs) and other sensitive materials were not affected, adding that the distribution of PVCs was on schedule.
According to her, “Distribution does not occur at the offices that have come under attack. There has been an overwhelming turnout. We received overwhelming reports on a daily basis because we are working round the clock. They start at 8am and end at 3pm, but I’ve even told them to stay till 5pm. We even work on Saturdays and Sundays, and we have an overwhelming turnout of people coming to pick up their PVCs.
“We have vigilante groups in all those areas that are prone to attack. We have the police deployed and stationed there. You won’t notice them. We can’t tell our ideas to the public but what I know is that INEC is ready and we are working very hard round the clock to ensure that 2023 becomes a reality.”
In his comment, the Police Public Relations Officer, (PPRO), Michael Abattam, stated that the force had put adequate security measures in place in collaboration with other security agencies.
INEC Offices Attackers Use Bread Soaked In Gasoline –NSCDC
According to him, the command will continue to monitor and patrol the various INEC facilities to ensure adequate protection of the materials and staff.
He appealed to the various communities for information regarding the hideout of criminal elements.
In Enugu State, LEADERSHIP observed that a combined team of security operatives had been deployed to the headquarters of INEC in Enugu for protection of staff and facilities.
The INEC headquarters was earlier attacked by hoodlums. Some sections of the office complex and vehicles were burnt by the hoodlums suspected to be members of IPOB.
The state government led by Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi shortly after the attack repaired the damaged sections. Security operatives have also deployed their operatives to prevent further attacks.
At present, the office is being protected by military, Police and Civil Defence operatives.
Head, Voter Education and Publicity, Aghunie Chika, told our correspondent that the Force will soon deploy security operatives to all their offices in the local governments to secure lives and property.
A member of the Civil Liberties Organisation, Comrade Paul Odemegwu who spoke to our correspondent, urged the government to partner with the natives to enable them protect INEC offices in the 17 local government areas of the state.
The situation is the same in Ondo State where security has been beefed up at the state headquarters of the INEC in Akure, Ondo State capital.
Security operatives from the Nigeria Police, DSS, NSCDC and others were seen at the INEC office located at Alagbaka, Akure.
The security personnel were seen at strategic positions at the entrance gate and some of the major roads leading to the INEC state office.
Visitors to the office were searched thoroughly at the gate to the premises.
Speaking with the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Funmilayo Odunlami- Omisanya, disclosed that the command had deployed its men into INEC facilities across the 18 local government areas of the state.
Also, the commander of the Ondo Amotekun Corps, Akogun Adetunji Adeleye, who confirmed the deployment of personnel to offices of INEC across the state, said the officials of the corps are in all the facilities of the commission.
In Akwa Ibom state, the Commissioner of Police (CP), Olatoye Durosinmi, has vowed to work with other security agencies to maintain and sustain the prevailing ambience of peace in the state, saying no stone would be left unturned in protecting lives, properties and institutions of government including INEC offices and infrastructure.
While taking delivery of 20 Hilux vehicles from Governor Udom Emmanuel penultimate week, which was complemented with the launch of new toll-free security numbers, the CP charged officers and men of the force to ensure all – round policing of the state as the Christmas and New Year celebrations would dove-tail into the crucial election month of February, 2023.
The presentation of the 20 surveillance vehicles, LEADERSHIP gathered, brought the number to 97 since the advent of the current administration in 2015, with Governor Emmanuel vowing to increase the number to 100 before the polls proper in order to stem security breaches.
Checks by our correspondent showed that the state INEC office along Udo Udoma Avenue had a unit of police operatives keeping watch over it, while the Uyo office is heavily secured as it shares the same fence with the state police headquarters at Ikot Akpanabia, near Uyo, the state capital.
The state chairman of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO), Otuekong Franklin Isong, stressed the need for “more security beef-up before, during and after the polls in order to avoid such violence that characterised last elections in the state, and for INEC to get its act right by conducting free, fair and transparent elections so as to calm frayed nerves of those who might think the contest was heavily stage-managed and deliberately manipulated to have a favourable outcome for the highest bidder.”
In Cross River State, there have been no recorded attacks on INEC facilities in the state. A walk to INEC Headquarters along Murtala Mohammed Highway Calabar on Saturday revealed heavily armed policemen at the gate.
At Etta Agbor INEC office, close to University of Calabar main gate, about four policemen were spotted at the facility.
The Police PPRO SP, Irene Ugbo, stated that police authorities are doing everything humanly possible to safeguard INEC’s property hoodlums’ attack.
However, INEC’s Head of Department, Voter Education/Publicity, Cross River State, Anthonia Nwobi, called on residents of the state to claim their PVCs so that they can participate in the 2023 forthcoming general elections.
In the face of attacks on INEC facilities across the country, the Sokoto state office of the electoral umpire has beefed up security around its facilities.
Located adjacent to the DSS headquarters, policemen and personnel of NSCDC are stationed at the entrance of the INEC office in Sokoto.
A source at the commission however informed our correspondent that the security men guarding the office run on shift basis to ensure all protection of their facilities, vehicles and electoral materials.
Sokoto state Commissioner of Police, Mohammed Usaini Gumel, told LEADERSHIP that “the command was able to surmount all security challenges due to their collective resolve to keep the state safe and peaceful. Through our strategic planning, we raided a political party office in Isa local government area of Sokoto state and recovered three AK-47 rifles, a locally-made gun and other dangerous weapons.”
However, the Public Relations Officer and Secretary, publicity committee of the PDP Gubernatorial Campaign Council, Alhaji Hassan Sahabi Sanyinnawal, distanced his party from any form of political misdemeanor.
He said, “We have fielded credible candidates in all elective positions in the state, as such we don’t need thugs or miscreants to harass or intimidate people in the course of the elections.”
In Kwara State, policemen and personnel of the NSCDC are providing 24-hour security cover for the INEC offices in Ilorin and local government areas in Kwara State.
Besides, INEC also has its private watchmen complementing the efforts of the police and NSCDC personnel.
A visit to the INEC office in Ilorin by our correspondents showed that there is a water-tight security in and around the office.
The Public Relations officer of INEC in the state, Bolaji AbdulKadir confirmed the deployment of policemen and NSCDC’s personnel to INEC offices in Ilorin and other parts of the state.
In Niger State, well armed policemen have been deployed to INEC facilities across the state, especially in the state’s headquarters.
A check at the INEC headquarters along David Mark Road, Minna, revealed well-armed policemen numbering 10 were deployed at every shift while security checks are carried out on visitors.
It was however discovered that most of the INEC offices at the local government areas are within the local government secretariat, thus they rely on the local government security arrangement within the premises.
Niger State police command’s Public Relations Officer, Wasiu Abiodun said that the command was complying with the IGP’s order to upscale physical security deployments to INEC Offices across the nation.
He said the Commissioner of Police, Niger State Command CP Ogundele J. Ayodeji, “has also directed for immediate deployment of Command’s operational assets around INEC facilities for surveillance operations to prevent/forestall any criminal activities around such facilities in the State, as part of IGP’s measure towards providing a conducive atmosphere for political/election process.
“These deployments will surely assist in monitoring INEC materials, prevent any attempt to evade INEC premises, coordinate timely response to distress call and to clamp down on violators”, he declared
A security expert, Aliyu Abdul told LEADERSHIP that “politically motivated attacks are very difficult to check even with battalions of military personnel because the sponsors are somewhere; it is more difficult if it is based on some jaundiced ideologies like we are witnessing from IPOB and other elements in the southeast.”
Arsonists Burn 500 Generating Sets In Anambra
The Resident Electoral Commissioner in Anambra state, Mrs Queen- Elizabeth Agwu has lamented that over 500 power generating sets were burnt when a gang of hoodlums set the state secretariat of INEC ablaze last year.
The INEC chief made the disclosure during a strategic meeting she convened among the top officials of the commission in the state and traditional rulers and presidents-general of town unions in the state to map plans to mobilise voters to participate effectively in the coming 2023 general elections and to ensure proper security of the commission’s officials and facilities ahead of the election as well as during and after the polls.
Agwu during the meeting held at the state secretariat of the commission, Awka, Anambra state capital, told the community leaders that they are critical stakeholders on issues bordering on security in their respective communities because, according to her, no crime could be successfully carried out in any area without insider collaboration.
“And as leaders of your respective communities you are in a better position to know criminal elements within your domains. This is why I invited you so that we deliberate on how you can help us not only to sensitise voters in your communities to go to our local government offices and collect their PVCs but to also go out and cast their votes to choose who they want during the 2023 elections because their votes will count, and it is only who have their PVCs that will be allowed to vote.”
The traditional ruler of Okpuno community, Awka-South local government area, Igwe S. I. Okafor in his reaction blamed insecurity in the state on people from neighbouring states, and pledged that as community leaders they would map out strategies to purge their areas of such undesirable elements.
Meanwhile, LEADERSHIP observed that since after the incident which occurred in the build up to the November 2021 gubernatorial election in the state, there has been heavy security presence around the Commission’s office.
The INEC headquarters in Asaba, capital of Delta state is secured with armed policemen. There are other security men from the DSS, Civil Defence around the commission’s offices.
Police Patrol teams have been drawn from Dragon Patrol, safer highways, Quick Response Squad, Rapid Response squad, Quick Response Squad, and Eagle-Net Special Squad for this purpose.
Ag. HOD, Voter, INEC, Delta state l, Bukola Ojeme and Voter Education Officer, INEC, Delta state, Mrs Blessing Okpala, INEC Delta state, said there is no cause for alarm in Delta INEC offices as the security men are providing enough security, assuring that the state has not experienced such ugly incident and does not hope for that in future.
Despite the over 12 year Boko Haram insurgency in Borno, attacks have not occurred at any of the offices of INEC in the state in the past three years.
Our correspondent recalls that it was only in Monguno that the attack on INEC office was recorded in 2019 when the terrorists attacked the local government headquarters, and at the peak of the insurgency between 2011 to 2012 when the terrorists attacked the State INEC office in Jere Local Government Area of the state.
The Benue State Police Command has deployed officers of the Nigerian Police to ensure the protection of lives and properties in all INEC offices across the 23 local government areas of the State.
The State INEC spokesperson, Terkaa Andyar who disclosed this to our Correspondent in a telephone conversation, said both the Police and officers of NSCDC have been posted across the 23 local governments to check any planned attack.
The Benue State Commissioner of Police CP Wale Abass has also assured Benue People of security of lives and properties before, during and after election.
Some members of the Civil Society Organizations (CSOs) who spoke to our correspondent on condition of anonymity also commended the security forces in the state for ensuring the protection of all INEC offices in the State.
The Ekiti State office of INEC has put measures in place to protect its offices and facilities against attacks.
At the state headquarters office of the Commission along new Iyin road, Ado Ekiti, the state capital, some armed policemen and operatives of NSCDC were seen in and around the premises.
Though not many of the security agents were seen, this may not be unconnected with the office of a sister security agency located very close to the electoral body’s office.
Not much could be said about the Ado Ekiti office along Bank road as well as the Ikere office of the commission but feelers had it that security was mounted in INEC offices in 14 other local government areas of the state.
The Police Public Relations Officer, Ekiti State Command, Mr Sunday Abutu spoke with LEADERSHIP on how they are policing INEC offices in the state and said watertight security is being provided for the offices and other facilities of INEC in the state.
The Head of Voter Education/ Publicity, INEC, Ekiti State, Mr Temitope Akanmu who spoke with our Correspondent in Ado Ekiti said a stakeholders’ meeting was recently convened to that effect.
Akanmu said prior to the time an Inter-agency Consultative Committee on Election Security was held to discuss how INEC can collaborate with security agencies and other stakeholders to ensure that all our facilities in the state are well secured.
“The security agents are collaborating together, sharing intelligence implemented and agreed upon,” he said.
INEC in Plateau State has said arrangement is in top gear to ensure a free and fair election.
Our correspondent who was at Miango Road state headquarters of INEC to assess the level of security arrangement preparatory to the election discovered a water tight security around the complex.
Stern-looking armed security operatives in uniform and mufti were seen at the gate conducting stop and search exercises before anyone was allowed into the complex.
The North Central Coordinator of the Civil Liberties Organisation (CLO) Mr. Steve Aluko called on the head of security agencies to ensure they deployed adequate personnel to protect INEC facilities.
According to him, with the high level of attacks on INEC facilities and their personnel, it is incumbent on them to step up their game in the area of protecting their personnel as well as their offices where sensitive and non-ensitive material are kept.
Although INEC has not recorded any attack in any of its offices in Rivers State, there is increased presence of security operatives in the offices.
LEADERSHIP observed there about 10 fully armed policemen manning the gates of the INEC headquarters located along Aba Road in Port Harcourt.
Speaking to our Correspondent on the condition of anonymity, a staff member of the commission said they were satisfied with the number of policemen attached to the facility.
However, speaking with LEADERSHIP, a retired Assistant Commissioner of Police, Dr. Uche Mike Chukwuma, said to curtail attacks on INEC facilities, there is the need to engage volunteers to serve in community-based security outfits.
Chukwuma said: ‘The truth about it is that we are not ready for security. We are doing surface security in Nigeria. The issue of INEC offices; is not done by human beings from within the communities? Does it mean that nobody knows these people?
“People know them. Let me be frank with you; people are not ready to volunteer for free services when they are not committed to it. People know those who are attacking them but since there are no free volunteers assigned to take care of most of these community-based assignments. Nobody wants to get himself involved.”
In Kebbi State, no fewer than 500 police personnel were dispatched to twenty one local government INEC Offices and the headquarters in Birnin Kebbi metropolis.
This was confirmed by the spokesman of the state police command, SP Nafi’u Abubakar to LEADERSHIP yesterday in Birnin Kebbi.
Nafi’u said the dispatch of the personnel followed a directive from the inspector general of police to beef-up security in INEC offices nationwide.
INEC PRO in the state, Abubakar Wala told our Correspondent that the commission was satisfied with the combined police, mobile, military, civil defence corps and the vigilante personnel posted to twenty one local government INEC Offices and the headquarters in the state.
The offices of the Kano State Independent Commission is manned by a combined security network and it is secure as of the time of filing in this report.
According to LEADERSHIP’s findings no criminal attacks had been carried out by hoodlums or any criminal gang on INEC office across all the 44 LGAs areas in the state.
Mr A.A. Maulud, the Public Relations Officer of the Commission in the state, described the relative peace enjoyed in the state as the yardsstick in which the Commission is leveraging on to maintain all its facilities throughout the state.
