March 11 Elections: Police read riot act

Mohammed Tijjani

The Deputy Inspector General (DIG) of Police, Hafiz Inuwa, says the police will be ruthless with “anybody who decides to test our collective responsibility as a nation”.

The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reported that DIG Inuwa, who is in charge of Training, Force Headquarters, Abuja, and the North Western Geo-political Zone of Nigeria, stated this to journalists after his meeting with political party leaders and other stakeholders at the Police officers mess on Wednesday in Kaduna.

“We will not allow misconduct, we will be ruthless to anybody who decides to test our collective responsibility as a nation.

“We will be ruthless to anybody or group of people we see carrying arms, if anybody or group is caught, they will have themselves to blame,” he warned.

He quoted the Inspector General (IG) of Police as having instructed them to go around and sue for peace, especially at such a critical period when gubernatorial elections would hold in a few days.

He noted that they would meet with critical stakeholders such as politicians, religious leaders and journalists, among others to sue for peace in the country.

He added that the Police have put in place strategies to ensure peaceful conduct of the gubernatorial elections.

“Additional Policemen have been posted to Kaduna in order to provide more security for the conducts of the elections,” he said.

Inuwa further said, “Nigeria belongs to all of us and it is our civic responsibility to ensure that it remains peaceful by coexisting and cohabiting together as one indivisible Nigeria.”

The DIG assured Nigerians that their rights to vote would not be tampered with, pledging to provide the enabling environment for peace to enable them to exercise their franchise.