Popular on-air personality Rufai Oseni has said the presence of the Nigerian Police Force during an election is yet to get the desired impact......Read The Full Article>>.....Read The Full Article>>
Oseni made these comments on the What’s Trending segment of the Morning Show on Thursday, September 12 stressing that the security agencies’ presence has not deterred vote buying, rigging, or ballot box snatching.
Recall the Inspector-General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun revealed that 35,000 police personnel would be deployed to provide security for the Edo State governorship election on September 21. Additionally, 8,000 military and other sister agencies would be stationed at various points in the state.
Egbetokun made this announcement in Benin during a meeting with stakeholders in the Edo State governorship election. He also mentioned that the Edo State Security Network (ESSN) would be banned from participating in the election security.
Reacting, Oseni said “In the last Kogi elections, they sent 35,000 police officers, what happened? There was still rigging and ballot box snatching and there was still violence. They are always deploying 35,000 police officers but we will still have rigging. So this is their number of 35,000, what effect is it making? Can we not stop and eliminate rigging or reduce it to the barest minimum?”
Egbetokun assured that the police would ensure strict compliance with the Electoral Act and other requisite laws to provide a conducive environment for the peaceful conduct of the election.
According to him, the police will not tolerate any act of hooliganism and violence during the election while anyone caught with weapons during the election would be treated and dealt with as criminal.
