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The Inspector-General of Police, Olukayode Egbetokun,has ruled out the participation of Amotekun and vigilantes groups in the November 16 Ondo State governorship election.
He has also ordered the deployment of adequate personnel and resources for the 16 Nov governorship election in Ondo State.
The Force Public Relations Officer, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, made this known in a statement on Sunday in Abuja.
He said the deployment would involve officers from various specialised units of the Nigeria Police Force, including the Special Intervention Squad, Police Mobile Force (PMF), Counter-Terrorism Unit (CTU) and Special Protection Unit (SPU).
Mr Adejobi, an assistant commissioner of police, said the Explosive Ordinance Disposal Unit, K-9 Unit, Federal Investigation and Intelligence Response Team (FID-IRT) and Federal Intelligence and Security Task Force (FID-STS) would also be involved.
The police spokesperson said the various units would work in collaboration with other security agencies to ensure that the election proceeds smoothly, without incident and in accordance with the highest standards of electoral integrity.
He pledged that the security agencies would adhere strictly to the guidelines of the Electoral Act 2022, adding that measures would be taken to align with the principles of fairness, transparency and orderliness.
According to him, in addition to ground personnel, aerial patrols will be conducted with police helicopters, while gunboats will patrol the state’s waterways and riverine areas to ensure security across all terrains.
He said the measures would serve as a deterrent to any attempt to disrupt the electoral process and enhance the overall stability of the elections.
Mr Adejobi warned political thugs and individuals or groups against any act of violence to disrupt the electoral process.
The police spokesperson said any act of violence or disruption before, during or after the election would be met with severe punishment in accordance with the law.
He warned that no quasi-security organisation, including state-backed groups like Vigilante Corps or Amotekun, would be permitted to participate in the election process.
Mr Adejobi said the warning was in line with the established guidelines governing election security management in the country.
He said the security of elections was the responsibility of the Nigeria Police Force, other federal security agencies and members of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security(ICCES).
While addressing stakeholders in Akure on Friday, Mr Egbedokun said a total of 43,157 security personnel compromising all security agencies, will be available for the polls.
Of the number, the police will be deploying 34,757 personnel to polling units, wards and local government collation centers across the state.
“The Nigeria Police Force is set for the governorship election in Ondo State with adequate preparations and measures emplaced for the success of the exercise,” he said.
“In this regard, the Police will deploy its available human and material assets to secure the 18 LGAs, 203 Wards, and 3,933 Polling Units of the State.
“A detailed Operation Order for the election has been prepared with adequate Police personnel to be deployed.
“The Nigeria Police will deploy a total of 34,657 personnel to the polling units, wards/LGA collation centers as well as other strategic locations. It is expected that Four (4) Police personnel will be deployed at each polling unit, which then implies that 15,732 conventional police personnel will be required for the 3,933 polling units and voting points in the State.
“This will be complemented by the Armed Forces, the Intelligence Security Agencies and other sister Security Agencies. A total of Eight thousand, five hundred (8,500) personnel from the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Correctional Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Federal Road Safety Corps and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency will be deployed to augment the Police strength.
“This will bring the total number of security personnel deployed for the election to 43,157.”