30th October, 2013
The Anambra Police Command on Tuesday ordered vigilance groups to surrender the arms in their possession ahead of the 16 November governorship election.
The Commissioner of Police, Mr Ballah Nasarawa, gave the order while addressing members of the group in Awka.
He also warned them against participating as security operatives in the forthcoming governorship election in the state.
Nasarawa urged the groups not to work on the day of the election except to go and cast their votes.
He said the command would arrest any vigilance member trying to flout the directives.
“You do not have any role to play in the election. We got information that politicians want to use you on the election day.
“You are free to go and cast your vote; we are going to create three monitoring units to monitor your activities during and after the election.
“Anybody caught with uniform on that day will be arrested and prosecuted,” he warned.
Nasarawa directed the vigilance groups to surrender their arms to the Divisional Police Officers (DPOs) in their areas three days before the election.
While commending the members for assisting the police in curbing crime in the state, he warned against the use of sirens by politicians.