Kogi election: Police vow to protect voters, avert ballot snatching

By Richard Elesho

As part of efforts to guarantee credible governorship election in Kogi State, the Assistant Inspector General of Police, AIG, Zone 8 in charge of Kogi and Kwara Police Commands, Babatunde Ishola, has charged political actors the State to play by the rules.

He gave the charge in Lokoja, the capital of Kogi State, on Wednesday during a stakeholders meeting on peace and security.

The AIG said the Police would not leave any stones unturned in ensuring that the poll is free of violence and assured that officers would be deployed to every polling unit to avert possible ballot box snatching and provide protection for eligible voters.

He advised politicians to sensitize their members and supporters, noting that whoever is caught perpetuating electoral violence would be prosecuted.

“There should be no violence of any form either before, during and after elections, no destruction of billboard, posters of political parties, no snatching of ballot boxes during elections” he warned.

The AIG charged political parties to base their campaigns on issues that would promote their images before the electorate and urged them to desist from using vulgar language.

In his speech, the Commissioner of Police Kogi State Command CP Akeem Yusuf described the theme of the meeting “Strengthening community engagement towards a violence free November 2023 governorship election” as strategic and important.

He charged political parties and their candidates to rise up to the challenge of ensuring unity, peace, and mutual respect for one another irrespective of political, ethnic and religious diversities.

“At the command level and in conjunction with other security agencies, we will adopt a robust and elaborate security arrangement to ensure adequate security for all political parties in the ongoing political rallies and campaigns across the state” he stated