40,000 Policemen for Osun Election

Segun Atanda/

Police have said they would deploy 40,000 policemen in Osun State for the September 22 governorship election.

The plan was disclosed by the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 11, Danjuma Ibraheem, during a visit Governor Abiola Ajimobi of Oyo State, in his office, today in Ibadan.

The Inspector General of Police, Mr Ibrahim Idris, had also disclosed at a stakeholders meeting in Osogbo last month that no fewer than seven police commissioners, an AIG and a DIG would supervise the Osun poll.

Ibraheem while addressing the governor, said: “On the coming Osun State governorship elections, we can assure you that we have more than 40,000 men ready for the assignment. We will do everything humanly possible to ward off intruders that might want to sneak in and wreck havoc on the election day.

“We know Osun State to be peaceful, but we do not want to leave anything to chance. So we are soliciting your support to also help in spreading the gospel of peace to the people in Oyo State and to caution anti-democratic elements against coming to Osun State to foment trouble during the election.”

Commending the governor for restoring peace and security to the state through the combined efforts of security agencies, the police boss said that the resultant effect could be seen in the socio-economic growth of the state.

Ibraheem appealed to the governor to extend the assistance that he had been giving to the police state command in relation to refurbishing of operational vehicles and provision of Armoured Personnel Carriers and other logistic supports to the zonal command.

He said, “You already know that policing is not easy, especially when you consider the logistics that must be put in place to achieve success. The zonal command needs operational vehicles to assist our operation.

Ajimobi expressed confidence that the candidate of the All Progressives Congress, Alhaji Gboyega Oyetola, will win the governorship election in Osun State judging by the exemplary performance of the incumbent administration.

He described the visitor as an intelligent officer, adding that the leadership of the police in the zone was well grounded and competent enough to be able to ensure that the election was peaceful.

He assured the police authority of the readiness of the state government to assist the zone towards ensuring that the governorship election in Osun State was hugely successful.

The governor said, “AIG Danjuma Ibraheem is one of the most intelligent officers I have ever met and I can easily predict that he will get to the peak of his career soon. Your visit is heartwarming.

“We are quite sure that the coming Osun election is going to be free and fair and we shall provide necessary support towards this. It is very apparent, though, that APC will win easily because ours is the only party that is on ground and accepted by the people.

“We are confident that the APC will win the September 22 election because of the exemplary performance of the incumbent administration in Osun State. One should have no doubt that the APC will retain Osun State.”

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