6th May, 2011
More than 10,000 policemen have been deployed to the four local government areas in Imo where supplementary governorship and House of Assembly elections will hold today.
Deputy Inspector General of Police (DIG), Ivy Okoronkwo, told newsmen in Owerri on Thursday that the measure was to ensure peaceful, free and fair supplementary elections.
It would be recalled that INEC had rescheduled the supplementary elections in Ngor Okpala, Mbaitoli, Ohaji/Egbema and Oguta council areas as well as Orji Ward, Owerri North, where the April 26 elections were inconclusive.
Okoronkwo said that the personnel were drawn from the anti-riot, anti terrorism and anti-bomb squads, in addition to conventional policemen.
She said other security agencies would provide personnel to complement the efforts of the Imo Command.
Okoronkwo, who said she had been assigned to supervise the exercise, said there would be strict restriction of movement between 8a.m. and 10 p.m. in the state on Friday.
Politicians, she added, had been banned from visiting polling stations with policemen.
“Thuggery and hooliganism will not be tolerated and anybody caught with any offensive weapon will have himself or herself to blame; to be forewarned is to be forearmed,†she said.
Meanwhile, INEC in the state has suspended four of its staff for allegedly sabotaging its efforts to ensure free, fair and credible supplementary elections.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Mr. Aniedi Ikoiwa, announced this at a separate press briefing in Owerri on Thursday.
Ikoiwa said the conduct of the suspended staff was being investigated, adding that anyone still found wanting would be suspended from duty.
He said that more than 90 per cent of INEC staff involved in the elections were drafted from six other states to ensure credibility of the exercise.
Ikoiwa also said that materials for the elections would be distributed promptly and would arrive at the polling units between 7: a.m. and 7: 30 a.m. on Friday.
“We are here to ensure a free, fair and credible election; we have put everything in place to do that and we will do just that,†he said.