Ahead of the March 11 governorship and state Houses of Assembly elections, Inspector‑General of Police Usman Baba disclosed that the Nigeria Police Force recorded and responded to 185 major incidents during the presidential and National Assembly elections held on February 25. In the course of those elections, 203 electoral offenders were arrested and 18 firearms were recovered from political thugs nationwide. All of the cases are currently at various stages of investigation by the Nigeria Police Electoral Offences Desks and will be concluded and forwarded to the legal department of the Independent National Electoral Commission for prosecution in due course.
Baba made these revelations during a meeting with senior police managers at the Force Headquarters in Abuja. The gathering included Deputy Inspectors‑General of Police, members of the Force Management Team, Assistant Inspectors‑General of Police, Commissioners of Police, and heads of tactical investigative and operational units. He emphasized that the purpose of the meeting was to debrief officers who managed election security, assess their performance during the February 25 elections, identify gaps, and refine the action plan for the upcoming March 11 polls. By drawing on practical experiences, the police aim to evaluate operational performance, pinpoint logistical challenges, and address any other issues encountered during the exercise.
The meeting also focused on assessing the security situation at all levels in the immediate aftermath of the February 25 elections. Baba stressed the importance of identifying trends and patterns in post‑election security to infer possible threats that may require mitigation before the next round of the national electoral process on March 11. He urged all Commissioners of Police to emulate the initiative of Lagos State Commissioner of Police Idowu Owohunwa, who met with stakeholders to curb violence.
Finally, Baba called on parents and guardians to discourage their children from being recruited as “cannon fodders” or destabilising agents who could disrupt the nation’s electoral process. He warned that the Nigeria Police, under his watch, will be unsparing toward such elements and their sponsors.
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