Ahead of the gubernatorial election slated to hold in Ekiti State on June 18, Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Ahmed Abubakar Audi, PhD, mni, has approved the deployment of 9,747 officers and men to provide watertight security for the exercise.
The Commandant General charged all the personnel involved in the election duty to be professional in their conduct by allowing the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of the Corps to guide their performances; stressing that, the service must remain apolitical and neutral to avoid any form of compromise during the election.
He maintained that necessary machinery has been put in place to provide effective security for INEC officials, and sensitive and non-sensitive materials, before, during and after the election, reiterating that all the 2,445 polling units, and collation centres, flashpoints and other criminal hideouts are fully covered.
The CG further hinted that personnel from Kogi, Edo, Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Ondo, Zone J and the National Headquarters have been drafted to support the Ekiti State Command in beefing up security for the polls and protecting Critical National Assets in all the 16 Local Government Areas of the State.
The composition of the deployment for the Ekiti election includes personnel from the Arms Squad, Chemical, Biological Radiological and Explosives Unit (CBRNE) Special Weapon and Tactics (SWAT), Kennel Unit, Counter-Terrorism Unit, Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Special Female Squad, Ops Special Squad and CG’s Special Monitoring team.
The Commandant General, however, assured the people of Ekiti State of a hitch-free election process as the Corps will be working in synergy with other security agencies involved in the conduct of the exercise to protect the electorate and arrest any criminal trying to destabilize the state.
He warned parents to put their wards in check at this critical period in the state’s history so that they won’t be easy tools in the hands of do-or-die politicians seeking to hijack ballot boxes or cause mayhem to upturn the election.
Assistant Commandant General (ACG) Special Duties, Haruna Lawal Muhammed, fdc, has been deployed to head and coordinate the election operations in the state, to be assisted by the Zonal Commander (Zone J) and other Senior Officers in the zone.
