Segun Atanda/
Mr Taiwo Lakanu, a Deputy Inspector-General of Police (DIG), has assured Nigerians that officers on election duty would be extremely professional in their conduct.
He gave the assurance on Thursday when he led senior police officers in Zone 5 on a pre-election visit to the Bayelsa State Police Command headquarters in Yenagoa.
Lakanu said the visit followed an instruction by the Inspector-General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, that the Nigeria Police Force management team should go to the geopolitical zones to address the police rank and file ahead of the general elections.
Lakanu, who was addressing officers serving in the police command as well as stakeholders led by Robert
He said the police high command was also discouraging vote buying and selling and that intelligence teams had been deployed across the country.
The DIG said, “I’m here to re-appraise and re-assess your level of preparation; to assess your operational strategies for the election and to also see to the actualization of those strategies.
“I’m affirming on behalf of Nigeria Police Force that the elections will be credible, peaceful, free and fair.
“We are going to be extremely professional, but you know we cannot do it alone. We need you people. We need your help. We are discouraging vote buying. Our intelligence teams are out all over the country, including here (Bayelsa).”
Lakanu, who was received by the state Commissioner of Police, Aminu Saleh, urged the political class to appeal to their followers to be peaceful and eschew bitterness as no election was worth the blood of any human being.
He said the police had done its analyses on likely flashpoints in the elections, stressing that policemen were ready for those who would foment trouble at the polls.