Police IG says Ondo election will be violence-free

The Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris, has expressed assurance that the November 26, governorship election in Ondo State will be free of violence.

He said officers and men of the Nigeria police Force would be on ground to tackle any act of violence.

Idris said the police were committed and ready to ensure that peace reign in all parts of the state before, during and after the election.

The police boss gave this assurance while speaking at a programme titled, ‘Security Threat Assessment for the governorship election in Ondo State’ organised by the Cleen Foundation in Akure, the Ondo State capital on Thursday .

Idris, who was represented by a Deputy Commissioner of Police at the Force Headquarters in Abuja, Mr. Sola Okediji, noted that the forthcoming election had potential to be violent going by various issues surrounding it.

But he said that the police would prevent any outbreak of violence before, during and after the poll.

He said, “It won’t be business as usual for politicians in Ondo State because the police will not tolerate any act that could lead to violence in the state. We shall resist all their plans to truncate the peace of the state before, during and after the poll.

“The police will not tolerate crisis in any part of the state. It is therefore important for the stakeholders in the election to cooperate with the police and play the game by the rules.”

The IGP also advised the political thugs in the state to find their ways out of the state, assuring the people that the police would do everything possible to ensure that the thugs were arrested before the election.

The Chief Consultant of Cleen Foundation, Dr. Sola Omotola, while presenting the security threat assessment conducted by the foundation, said the forthcoming election in Ondo State would be the most keenly contested election in the history of the state since the country returned to democracy in 1999.

He noted that the events that surrounded the primary of the major political parties participating in the election were pointers to the fact that the election might be marred by violence in some parts of the state.