The Nigeria Police Force says it has received intelligence that some politicians in Bayelsa State are deploying fake law enforcement agents for the governorship election on Saturday (November 11).
The Deputy Inspector-General of Police supervising South-South zone, DIG Daniel Sokari-Pedro, who is in charge of Election Management Security in the 2023 Bayelsa governorship polls, stated this during a press briefing at the Police Officers’ Mess in Yenagoa on Friday.
He spoke against against the backdrop of preselection complaints being made by some politicians whom he said were condemning the preparation of the police for the electoral process.
Sokari-Pedro warned politicians against making comments capable of increasing tensions hours to the conduct of the polls across the eight local government areas of the state.
He said the police would deal decisively with any politicians who had procured the services of fake or real law enforcement agents for the purpose of the election.
Sokari-Pedro said, “It has come to my notice that politicians have been using some fake law enforcement agents. I want to assure you that whether such law enforcement agents are fake or real, if they are arrested, they are in serious trouble.
“They will blame the day they were born into this world. I assure them so. Whether they are real or they are fake is not the issue, the issue is that they are disturbing the electoral process and we will not allow it.”
He also said that politicians were trying to worsen the already charged atmosphere with inflammatory utterances, and urged them to allow peace to reign in the state.
The DIG, while advising them to tread with caution, said, “Let me sound this loud and clear that there is no place under the sun where election takes place that there will not be complaints.
“But these preselection complaints should not be used as a gauge to judge the police preparedness, and that should not in any way vitiate the election which has not taken place. Whenever such complaints come we will surely investigate them.
“I want to appeal to politicians from all divides that they should stop condemning the police when election has not even taken place. And again, politicians are charging the already tensed atmosphere by making inflammatory statements; statements ordinarily which, if not because of the election, would have been turned to have security implications.
“But when police will go and get somebody arrested for making such statements, they will say police is taking sides. So I want everybody to tread with caution. The election is just a few hours away. Therefore, we should give peace a chance and ensure that we do not make inflammatory statements.”
On the reported Friday’s violent clash involving supporters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the Twon-Brass jetty in Brass LGA, over where electoral materials meant for voting in the area would be kept ahead of the exercise on Saturday, in which one person was injured, Sokari-Pedro said he was not aware of the incident.
He, however, announced two control room numbers: 07034578208, 09167322691, for the public to lodge complaints.
When asked if the Commissioner of Police, Tolani Alausa, had been redeployed following Thursday’s protest staged by some women, who marched to the state command headquarters demanding his (Alausa’s) removal, the DIG said Alausa was deployed to Bayelsa to work and he is also the CP Election.
He added, “If there is to be any redeployment, it will be done by the IG, not me. I don’t have that power to redeploy anybody. So he (Alausa) stays here.”
It would be recalled that the police had on Thursday noted that although Bayelsa is peaceful, the three senatorial districts of the state are politically volatile in terms of election.
Sokari-Pedro equally stated that the police had identified five local government areas that are politically volatile, and they include Nembe, Brass, Southern Ijaw, Kolokuma/Opokuma and Sagbama
While the incumbent Governor Douye Diri, who is the governorship candidate of the PDP is from Kolokuma/Opokuma LGA, his APC counterpart, Timipre Sylva, is from Brass LGA.
