No fewer than 203 persons have been arrested by the police in connection with electoral offences during the February 25, 2023 Presidential and National Assembly elections.
The Inspector General of Police, Usman Alkali Baba, made this known on Monday during a meeting with strategic police managers comprising Deputy Inspectors-General of Police and members of the Force Management Team, Assistant Inspectors-General of Police, Commissioners of Police, and heads of tactical investigative and operational units of the Force in Abuja.
According to the Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, in a statement issued on Monday, the IGP added that about 185 major incidents were attended to by the police during the elections.
He said 18 firearms of various calibres were recovered from political thugs.
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The spokesman said the IGP however emphasized that the cases were at various stages of investigation at the Nigeria Police Electoral Offences Desks.
Usman Alkali Baba was said to have also assured that they investigation would be concluded and processed to the Legal Department of the Independent National Electoral Commission for prosecution.
Speaking on the meeting with strategic police managers, the spokesman explained that it was to “debrief officers posted for election security management duties and appraise the performance of the Nigeria Police Force at the February 25th Presidential and National Assembly Elections, identify gaps, and perfect the action plan for the forthcoming March 11th Elections.”
He said the IGP applauded the high level of resilience, and utmost professionalism displayed by officers and men of the Nigeria Police as well as other security agencies in the course of the election security operations in line with “the Reviewed Standard Operational Guidelines and Rules for Police Officers and Other Security Agents on Electoral Duties which was issued to all officers in the countdown to the election operations.”
He was said to have equally attributed the professionalism of the officers to the various pre-election pieces of training, meticulous planning, massive operational assets procurement and deployment, as well as prioritized welfare.
