TELL Magazine

The Assistant Inspector General of Police, AIG, on election duty in Edo State, Ede Ayuba, on Wednesday assured the citizenry that the police were fully prepared and ready for peaceful and credible elections in the state. He also advised his officers and men not to be provoked by those who may want to cause crisis because they know they cannot win the election.
Addressing officers at an inter-agencies meeting in Benin, Ayuba said Nigeria had entrusted them with the security of the election and would therefore not fail in ensuring free, fair and peaceful election in the state.
He said “Election is every four years. We have received training to ensure that the election is not interrupted. We must work with other security agencies to ensure a peaceful election.
Nigeria is our fatherland and we shall not allow it to go down; and we are here to participate in the election by protecting the ballot papers and boxes, as well as the conduct of the election”.
According to Ayuba, if security agencies are able to protect the outer circle and the ballot box and election materials, “we have made 80 per cent work possible for the officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC)”. He therefore charged the officers to remain unprovoked, as some people who know that they can’t win the election, would want to create crisis.
The AIG advised that “No matter how they provoke us, we should exercise restraint and ensure that there is free and fair election in the state.”

Present at the event were other security agencies, namely the Nigerian Army, Nigerian Air Force, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Nigeria Immigration Service, Directorate of State Service, Nigeria Customs, and the Federal Road Safety Commission.