The Rivers state Police Command has said it will visit offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in all twenty-three Local government areas of the state.
The Commissioner of Police in the state, CP Francis Odesanya, disclosed this during his visit to the INEC Secretariat along Aba road in Port Harcourt, following the attack on the Bori office of the commission.
CP Odesanya said the Command is poised to ensuring that all INEC offices have adequate protection before a new election date is fixed to conclude the re-run.
The Police Chief also stated that some arrests have been made with regard to the attack on the INEC office in Bori.
CP Odesanya said unlike other states, Rivers state is bedeviled with criminals who operate with sophisticated weapons.
He stated that the Command has embarked on massive mop-up of arms and is carrying out raids on criminal hide-outs in the state.
“The Police have always been on the ground as far as conducting elections are concerned. And this will not be a different one. We are one the ground to make sure that the state is secured.
“On the issue of investigation into the incident at Bori, we are on it. Arrests have been made and I wouldn’t want to name names yet until we are done with our investigation.
“The issue of kidnapping has been a recurrent decimal here. The IGP has been of a very good support and I can assure you that our men in the Anti-kidnapping squad are working very hard. And I promise you that the issue of kidnapping will soon be a thing of the past. People will soon have the freedom to go about their daily duties.
“The problem here is the issue of over proliferation of arms. What is happening in Rivers is happening in other states but the problem in Rivers state is that they have sophisticated weapons.
“My primary assignment is to mop-up arms. We have started mopping-up arms. We will soon display some of the weapons we have recovered,” the CP said.
In his response, the Resident Electoral Commissioner of INEC in the state, Aniedi Ikoiwak commended the Commissioner of Police for his decision to carry-out surveillance on all INEC offices.
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