IG forms team to assess election-related violence

Before the general elections, a monitoring and evaluation team will be deployed throughout the states of the federation to identify, analyze, and mitigate threats as well as conduct on-the-spot assessments of the security emplacements.

According to the police, this was done to support the IGP’s efforts to ensure credible, safe, and secure general elections as well as to provide adequate security before, during, and after the elections.

This was revealed in a statement from the Force’s spokesperson, Olumuyiwa Adejobi, that our correspondent was able to obtain on Wednesday.

The national coordinator of the team has also been named by the IG as AIG Garba Umar, vice president of INTERPOL and head of the National Crime Bureau.
AIG Habu Sani, the Force Secretary, Basil Idegwu, the CP Election Monitoring Officer, and CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, the Force Public Relations Officer, make up the team.
Seven additional commissioners of police, 15 deputy commissioners of police, 30 assistant commissioners of police, 30 chief superintendents of police, and 16 other strategic officers make up the team.

The IG tasked the team to, among other things, ensure the propriety of deployments, provide real-time coverage of the electoral process, and safeguard against hostile external and internal influence using INTERPOL, anti-cybercrime, and intelligence tools and assets of the NPF, according to the statement, which said, “The IG, while reiterating the commitment of the police to ensuring that the elections are safe, secure, credible, and in line with global best practices.”

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In a similar vein, Baba reaffirmed the creation and viability of the Electoral Offences Desks housed at the State Criminal Investigation Departments of all commands throughout the country, which are overseen by the Assistant Commissioners of Police in charge of the SCID.

The burden of compiling, looking into, and prosecuting every case involving electoral offenses in the country falls on the EOD.