Members of registered Political parties and other relevant stakeholders in Ondo on Tuesday shunned a peace meeting called by the State Command of the Nigeria Police ahead of next month’s general election.
The meeting, slated to hold at the police officers’ mess in Akure, the state capital was also boycotted by traditional rulers, youth leaders and market women in the state.
In his speech earlier given to journalists before the meeting, the State Commissioner of Police, Mr Isaac Eke said political parties and their candidates should shun bad campaigns and avoid using thugs to foment trouble during the elections.
He said, “I wish to use this avenue to implore all the political party leaders and aspirants into the state and federal legislatures to foster peace within and outside their communities and create an enabling environment where electoral best practices will thrive.
“Avoid using political thugs to abuse the electoral process as police will not hesitate to deal decisively with the ugly phenomenon of thuggery and identified sponsors”, he said.
Speaking with Journalists, the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of zone XI comprising Ondo, Oyo and Osun states, Mr. Ikemefuna Okoye disclosed that the meeting was meant to get all the political parties in the state into signing peace pact ahead of the general elections.
Okoye, who said the meeting would be rescheduled at a later date noted that he was not disappointed by the action of the stakeholders.
“I am not disappointed with the way they boycotted the meeting because the aim is for peace to reign in this country and to ensure that the forthcoming election is violence free. We have reschedule the meeting. That is all and you will hear from us later, that is all”, he said.
He noted that the police were committed to conducting peaceful general elections in the state, adding that the command only wanted to read out the riot acts to the political players that would participate in the elections.
However, both the state chapters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) claimed that no official invitation was sent to them by the state Police command for the meeting.
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