Police in Oyo and Rivers have dec-lared readiness for the March 28 presidential election, and warned hoodlums and their sponsors against violence.
At a joint press conference addressed in Ibadan, the Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone 11 and the Commissioner of Police for Oyo State Command, Mr. Ikemefuna Okoye and Alhaji Mohammad Katsina, warned politicians to strictly abide by the electoral law and keep their loyalists under check at all times.
The AIG said: “The police are prepared for this election. It must be peaceful, free and fair. The logistics are available but we will not reveal all our strategies for now so as not to leak them to criminals. But suffice to say that the election must be free and fair and whoever goes contrary to the Electoral Law will find himself to blame.”
The Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Katsina, in his contribution said: “Since some of our politicians have continuously remained ada-mant, we are also going to muzzle our strength and show them that nobody is above the law. What I mean in essence is that the full weight of the law would be really applied on them”.
He warned that henceforth, the organiser of any political rally or meeting organized in any place or manner without informing the police would take responsibility for any problem that arises.
Similarly, the Assistant Inspec-tor General of police in charge of Police Maritime Command, Kalafite Adeyemi, said yesterday in Port Harcourt that the command was ready for the general election. He spoke at a familiarization tour of the Port Authority Police, Eastern Ports Command in Port Harcourt.