Edo Poll: Police Arrest 6, Recover Illegal BIVAS Machine, Fire Arms

The Nigeria Police has said that six people were arrested on election day, while stolen or illegally acquired BIVAS machine were also recovered.

The deputy inspector general of police who was in charge of the election, Frank Mba, stated this on Monday in Benin at a press briefing with a selected media outfit.

He stated that weapons and 58 voters’ cards that were in unlawful possession of a suspect were also recovered.

He said, “Yes, there were arrests made. Six persons were arrested. We expect this number to shoot up in the course of investigations because we expect that there will be accomplices. I mean, there will be people who aided, abetted, procured, facilitated, and sponsored these suspects who were arrested.

“We also recovered a total number of four weapons of different mixes. This is also a subject of a very wide investigation. Life ammunition were also recovered in the process of recovering those weapons.

“A total number of 58 voters’ cards that were in unlawful possession of a suspect, some stolen or illegally illicitly acquired BIVAS machines were equally recovered, while we fully recovered some amounts in cash.

“This is a summary of everything we’ve done with our arrests and recoveries, but like I said earlier, we expect that as we deepen and continue to expand our investigation, we will be able to pick up more persons.”

Mba stated that the Police had activated the police election station, which included massive patrols of the state and a show of force.

He urged Edo people to continue to conduct themselves in peaceful manner just like they did before and during the election, assuring them of their safety.

He added, “Now that the elections are over. We have activated our post-election strategies. We are commencing massive patrols of the state. We’re putting in place a strategy that will give rise to high visibility policing. We will be conducting confidence building patrols, show of force and the protection of all critical assets of the state. We will be paying very special attention to public spaces and we will be paying very special attention to INEC facilities and government facilities.”