Election: Police, NSCDC deploy 12, 500 officers in Borno

The Police Command in Borno said it has deployed over 11, 000 men for the Saturday’s governorship and State House of Assembly elections in the state.

The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Damian Chukwu, made the disclosure in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Wednesday in Maiduguri.

Chukwu said the personnel comprised of Police Mobile Force, Sniffer dogs, men of the special units, Explosive Ordinance Departments (EOD) and Armored Personnel Carrier (APC).

The commissioner said they would be deployed to polling units, INEC offices and strategic locations.

He said the command would deploy about 300 operational vehicles and Armoured Personnel Carriers (APC) to the 27 Local Government Areas of the state.

Chukwu added that the command in collaboration with sister security agencies, adopted proactive measures to enhance security during the elections in the state.

“The Inspector-General of Police directed for the deployment of more armored vehicles to the flash points in the state.

“We also embarked on aggressive patrol and the show of force exercises in Maiduguri and its environs. The police are committed to the protection of lives and property in the election,” he said.

In a related development, Mr Ibrahim Abdullahi, the Commandant of NSCDC said the corps had deployed 1, 500 personnel for the Saturday elections in the state.

Abdullahi said the personnel were deployed to various locations to augment the military and police in maintenance of law and order in the election.

He explained that the personnel include special units of anti riot squad; agro rangers, bomb detection and disposal, health, intelligence and detective units.

The commandant called on the youths to eschew violence and avoid acts capable of disrupting the relative peace in the state. (NAN)