Former minister of communications, Major General Tajudeen Olanrewaju (rtd), has appealed to the heads of security agencies to give Lagos State special attention, noting that the emerging mega-city has many flashpoints to warrant focused attention of the military and other security services during the forthcoming elections.
Gen. Olanrewaju, former General Officer Commanding (GOC), Third Armoured Division Nigerian Army, made the observation in reaction to the statement credited to the Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor, on the urgency and necessity of deploying defence forces against threats by renegade elements of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB), who have said that elections would not hold in the Southeastern part of the country.
Explaining his position on election security, he said that Lagos being Nigeria’s most complex federating unit, should be included among other states requiring special security attention. Olanrewaju urged the military high command and other security organisations to take particular look at major flashpoints in Lagos during elections, to ensure that no miscreants have the freedom of time to disrupt the process.
“We need this military assurance that a free, fair, and credible election will be held in Lagos State.
We implore the Federal Government to deploy the military before, during and after the 25th February election.
“There are many flash points in Lagos State that make casting votes very difficult because of the activities of thugs, miscreants and street urchins. They are often used to create senseless disturbances in the strongholds of opponents, rendering acceptance of results untenable.”
Recall that Irabor had assured Nigerians of the preparedness of the military to ensure that this year’s elections would hold peacefully in the South East states and in all parts of the country in spite of threats by criminal elements.
Responding to a question on the threat by the Simon Ekpa-led faction of IPOB to stop the elections in the Southeast Zone, Irabor said no person or group can stop the polls.
“The military is working in concert with the police and other security agencies to ensure that the menace of criminalities from IPOB and Eastern Security Network are eliminated,” he said.
Irabor also corroborated with the position of the minister of defence that “no territory of Nigeria is under the control of the Boko Haram or any other terrorist group,” adding that all communities in the Northeast Zone of the country had been liberated from the criminal elements.
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