Police Train Security Personnel On Curbing Election Violence

In fulfilling the directive of President Muhammadu Buhari for the Police to provide a level playing field and secured public space for the citizens to freely exercise their franchise, the Nigeria Police Force has organized a one-day training for Heads of operations in State and Zonal Commands and other sister security agencies on curbing election violence.

The training, held in collaboration with Central Soft Spot Support Services on Monday at the International Conference Centre, Abuja, is aimed at ensuring that security personnel responsible for operational deployment and field duties are adequately prepared.

While declaring the training open, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, psc(+), NPM, NEAPS, fdc, CFR, noted that security agencies have a critical role to play in policing the election from any form of violence and providing a secured environment for voting. Therefore, training and retraining will sharpen the personnel’s knowledge, ability, and capacity to confront issues.

“We must police the election from those who believe they can behave as adversaries, those who don’t want the election to take place or want to sabotage the process. We are also to create an enabling environment for Nigerians who want to take active parts in choosing their leaders. In doing that, there are best international practices that need to be observed, such as human rights and use of minimum force to condition the environment,” IGP Baba intoned.

The course coordinator, AIG Wilson Inalegwu (Rtd), said, “The essence is to provide an avenue for officers to brainstorm on the strategies they have placed to have a free and peaceful electioneering process.”

IGP Baba maintained that all security agencies and members of the intelligence community must contribute effectively to providing full security coverage before, during, and after the 2023 General Elections.