Tomorrow’s National Elections: Security Agencies Form Comprehensive Strategy, Synergy to Tackle Insecurity 

FROM OUR SECURITY WATCH DESK,(ANAMBRA)

Ahead of tomorrow’s national elections, the Anambra State Police Command has, in line with the strategic directives of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Alkali Baba Usman, formulated a comprehensive strategy in synergy with the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, military formations and other sister security agencies in the state to provide the enabling security environment for peaceful, credible and transparent elections in the state.  

The plan, which was revealed by the State Commissioner of Police, CP Echeng Echeng during a briefing in his Amawbia office this morning contained that the security agencies were conceived and are being implemented under the umbrella of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) and based on a security threat analysis and risk assessment earlier conducted (but constantly updated) by the State Police Command, it outlines the specific roles of participating agencies and places a high premium on effective coordination amongst the service commanders/agency heads.

“As we are all aware, the people of our dear state – Anambra, will join other Nigerians to cast their votes for candidates of their choice in the Presidential and National Assembly elections on Saturday 25th February 2023 as well as in the state House of Assembly elections on Saturday 11th March 2023, by the electoral timetable released by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC). 

“The need for these epoch-making events to take place in a peaceful and secure environment cannot be overemphasized; hence the 1999 constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria (as amended), the Police Act 2020, and the Electoral Act 2022 mandate the Nigeria Police Force (NPF), as the lead agency in internal security, to ensure that elections are conducted in a peaceful and orderly manner.

“Accordingly, the Anambra State Police Command has, in line with the strategic directives of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Alkali Baba Usman, psc(+), NPM, CFR, formulated a comprehensive strategy in synergy with INEC, military formations, and sister security agencies in the state to provide the enabling security environment for peaceful, credible and transparent elections in the state.  

“By global best practices, our election security plan captures the three main phases in the electoral process viz; the pre-election phase, election days, and the post-election period. It is heart-warming to note that the implementation of the pre-election phase has been largely successful, as electioneering campaigns in the state have been peaceful and devoid of violence. It is also pertinent to state that the command benefited from the series of election security workshops organized for personnel across all cadres.

“To operationalize the election-day security plan for the state, the Anambra State Police Command, in synergy with the military and sister security agencies, is poised to do the following on election days:

“Deploy unarmed law enforcement agents to man the 5,720 polling units across the state. Escort and protect all INEC personnel and ad-hoc staff on election duty. Escort and protect all sensitive and non-sensitive electoral materials as may be required by INEC. Provide robust security/confidence-building patrols across communities to reassure the citizenry and encourage voters to come out and exercise their franchise freely.

“Maintain formidable rapid response teams across all the 326 wards to promptly and effectively respond to any distress call. Enforce movement restriction orders. ​Given the foregoing, I wish to call on the good people of Anambra State to come out on the forthcoming election days and exercise their franchise without fear of favor. Let me at this juncture, strongly advise all political gladiators and their supporters to play the game according to the rules, as anyone found wanting, shall be dealt with according to the law. In the words of the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria, H.E. Muhammadu Buhari, 

“Nigerians should vote for whoever they like from whatever party. Nobody will be allowed to mobilize resources and thugs to intimidate people in any constituency. That is what I want to go down in Nigerian history for as a leader” (Deji O., Buhari: 

“No Going Back on Proposed Naira Redesign”, Arise. tv, 10th November 2022). To members of the fourth estate and civil society, I urge you to be more patriotic, as you discharge your duties. Together, we can make our country proud”./CP Echeng Echeng concluded.