Police target “very peaceful” 2023 election in South-East – I-G 

The Inspector General of Police (I-G), Mr Usman Baba, has assured residents of South-East that election will be held in the zone come 2023.

Baba, represented by Assistant Inspector General of Police, Isaac Akinmoyede, gave the assurance during the opening of South-East 2023 Elections Security Management Workshop, on Saturday in Enugu.

He said that the police was building robust synergy with other security agencies to ensure that the 2023 election remained seamless and “very peaceful”.

“We are brainstorming together to fashion out ways to deal with existing and emerging security threats head long within the South-East.

“It is clear that with robust synergy, cooperation and joint operations, this area will be the most peaceful and our people will surely come out to exercise their civic responsibility.

“We are working relentlessly on the goal of ensuring that election holds in the South-East and people’s vote are secured and it will definitely count,” the I-G assured.

Earlier, Dr Solomon Arase, a retired I-G of Police, said that the workshop was for all security agencies and formations in South-East to get them ready for the task of a peaceful, credible and hitch-free election in 2023.

Arase, who is the workshop consultant, said it was meant to identify gaps in election security and pin point tasks and responsibilities of each security agency concerned with election.

“Security agencies have gathered here on how to study trends and patterns of crimes before and during elections and how to effectively deal with it in a holistic and collaborative manner,” he said.

The Commissioner of Police in Enugu State, Mr Abubakar Lawal, urged people of the zone and the state not to express any fear about the 2023 election.

“2023 election will hold and we are doing everything humanly possible to ensure that. Our people should not entertain any fear or any opinion in the contrary,” Lawal said.

The workshop was attended by the Army, Air Force, Navy, Police, Department of State Security and Civil Defence Corps.

Other are Nigeria Correctional Service, Immigration, Customs,    Fire Service and National Drug Law Enforcement Agency among others.

The workshop was organised by the I-G to further build the capacity of security agencies and their personnel on election security. (NAN)