Polls: 203 Persons Arrested For Electoral Offences

The inspector-general of police (IGP) Usman Baba has hinted that 203 persons linked with various electoral offences and sundry crimes were arrested during the presidential and National Assembly (NASS) elections on February 25, 2023.

Eighteen firearms of various calibres were recovered from political thugs during the exercise. The IGP said about 185 major incidents were responded to by the police across the country during the elections.

Baba stated this when he met with strategic police managers comprising deputy inspectors-general of police and members of the force management team, assistant inspectors-general of police, commissioners of police, and heads of tactical investigative and operational units of the Force at Force headquarters, Abuja.

He emphasised that the cases are at various stages of investigation at the Nigeria Police Electoral Offences Desks and assures that they will be concluded and processed to the Legal Department of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) for prosecution.

Force spokesperson, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi said the meeting was to debrief officers posted for election security management duties and appraise the performance of the Nigeria Police Force at the February 25th presidential and National Assembly elections, identify gaps and perfect the action plan for the forthcoming March 11, 2023 elections.

He said the IGP applauded the high level of resilience and utmost professionalism displayed by officers and men of the Nigeria Police as well as other security agencies in the course of the election security operations in line with the reviewed standard operational guidelines and rules for police officers and other security agents on electoral duties which was issued to all officers in the countdown to the election operations.

The IGP equally attributed the professionalism of the officers to the various pre-election pieces of training, meticulous planning, massive operational assets procurement and deployment, as well as prioritized welfare.

The police boss reiterated that the Nigeria Police is committed to evolving pathways to incrementally strengthen the Force’s operational capacity and professional knowledge in navigating through the complex electoral process dynamics to police our democratic heritage and meet the expectations of the electorates.