The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, has deployed 15, 250 personnel to Edo State for the governorship election in the state on Wednesday.
The acting Deputy Commandant-General, Operations, of the Corps, Mr Hillary Madu, made this known at a news conference on Tuesday in Benin.
He said that the personnel had arrived in the state, adding that they comprised 15, 000 armed and unarmed officers and additional 250 special squad drawn from the specialised units of the corps.
Madu said the specialised units included Special Weapon and Tactics, SWAT, Kernel, Counter Terrorism and Undercover.
He said the officers would work in synergy with other security agencies to ensure a free, fair and credible election.
Madu said that five commandants of the corps from commands in neighbouring states had been deployed to coordinate the operations of the personnel during the polls.
He warned those planning to disrupt the electoral process to stay away from the state.
According to him, Edo is a peaceful state and I appeal to the people to ensure that they sustain the peaceful atmosphere before, during and after the election.
“Edo is well known for peace; every state of the federation always look unto the state because of its peaceful nature, and that is what we are here to maintain.
“That is exactly why we are here; we are preaching peace and appealing to everybody, especially the politicians and their loyalists, to help us sustain this peace.
“This election is not about anybody and it is not worth the soul of anybody. We must all work for the success of the poll.
“For us as a security agency, we are not politicians; we are here to ensure free, fair and credible governorship election,” he said.
Madu said the corps had identified likely flash points across the state and had taken proactive measures to nip any planned disruption in the bud.
He said that the officers would be visible in all the 2,627 polling units and 192 wards across the state during the poll. NAN
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