Less than a week to the September 21, 2024 governorship election in Edo State, a socio-political group, Edo Collectives, has warned the police against taking sides in the exercise....READ THE FULL ARTICLE HERE ▶▶
The group, in a statement issued on Sunday by its spokesperson, Ese Ipboba, warned the police to refrain from any form of interference in Saturday’s governorship election.
“The stand of the Police has shown its possible partiality in the forthcoming election,” the group said in the statement.
The socio-political group noted that the Inspector General of Police banning the Edo State Security Network (ESSN) from participating in the election was a ploy by the police to have a field day during the election.
Faulting the ban, Ipboba stressed that the security network was not a threat to the peaceful conduct of the election.
Recall that IGP Kayode Egbetokun had banned the state-owned security outfit, ESSN, from participating in the election.
According to the IGP, the task of securing voters and electoral materials rests squarely on the police, who will be supported by other security agencies to ensure a credible election. He also said a total of 35,000 policemen had deployed to Edo State for the election.
Stressing the need for impartiality, the group observed that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had sought “a level playing field by asking for the redeployment of the state Commissioner of Police but the plea fell on deaf ears, indicating that the Police have ulterior motive”.
It, however, warned that in order not to cause confusion on election day, “the Police must remain not only neutral but be seen as neutral”.
“Edo people are peace-loving but a situation of partiality might not augur well for all,” the group said.
It further called on President Bola Tinubu “to ensure that there is no display of federal might, on or before the election day” and to “allow the electorates to decide who governs them”.
