IGP commends police’s performance in Rivers re-run

The Inspector General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, has expressed satisfaction with the performance of police officers deployed for the re-run parliamentary elections in Rivers State held on Saturday, December 10, 2016, the gruesome death of one of the officers, DSP Mohammed Alkali and others missing notwithstanding.

The IGP in a statement on Tuesday condoled with the family for the loss and identified with the grief of his colleagues.

To this end, a high powered investigation team has been directed to unravel the circumstances surrounding the death of the officer.

In the statement, the police chief said that the gains of the security personnel’s performance in the Edo and Ondo elections were further concretised in the Rivers re-run elections in the areas of massive deployment of logistics, enabling the process, stakeholders engagement, facilitating voters participation, interagency collaboration and general provision of peace and security in the state before, during and after elections.

According to him, the performance indicators were visible and verifiable.

Idris observed that some disgruntled elements in the state attempted to foist violence and insecurity on the populace that he said were generally peace-loving.

“Comparatively, the re-run election was a huge success in contrast to past elections in the state that were usually characterized by violence and wanton destruction of lives and property,” he said.

He said, “The IGP master plan on election security will continue to be improved upon for future elections in the county. This master plan will usher in credible, fair, free and acceptable elections in accordance with the principles of democratic policing and international best practices.

“The report released by an NGO, CLEEN Foundation that the elections were “marred by irregularities, large scale violence, professional misconduct and open bias by security operatives and electoral personnel” is in its entirety lurid, fraught with inaccuracies and lacking in substance.

“It is a disservice to the evolving Nigerian democracy and sacrifice of the security personnel for the CLEEN Foundation report to assert that, “There were serious cases of electoral violence orchestrated by the Police, Army and DSS.”

“It is also saddening for the CLEEN Foundation report to attribute the death of a police officer, DSP Mohammed in the course of duty to what the report termed “unwarranted use of force and shooting.” It is a brazen display of insensitivity to the fallen officer and disrespect to the family.

“Undoubtedly, there were some infractions of law in the course of the elections where the police and other security agencies rose to the occasion and ensured the electoral process prevailed accordingly.

“Non-governmental organisations (NGOs) are our veritable partners; the extent to which they justify funding should not undermine national interest.

“The IGP wishes to reassure Nigerians that enthronement of credible electoral process remains one of the police’s uppermost priorities. In addition, the IGP commends the good people of Rivers State for the cooperation availed the police and other security agencies in the course of the re-run elections.”