Anambra Police To Clamp Down On Officers Engaged In Vote Buying   

Raymond Ozoji, Awka

The police in Anambra state have made their position clear that any officer of the command who is instrumental to vote selling and Vote buying during the 2019 general elections will be met with stringent sanctions.

The state commissioner of police Mr. Garba Umar made the statement at the command headquarters Awka at the weekend while addressing critical election stakeholders comprising civil society organisations, political parties, the media and a host of others.

He said that misconduct by any police officer would meet the full weight of the law stressing that members of the public should expose as well as report to the command any police officer engaged in vote buying.

The police commissioner also noted that the command was not unaware of the tendency for disgruntled elements to fake security agents especially the police during elections but assured members of the public that the command has its strategy of identifying fake police men.

Umar also informed that apart from the security agents at the polling units, nobody will come to the polling stations with police orderlies. According to him, there are over 4,600 polling centres in Anambra state and the command does not have enough personnel to cover all the polling units which he said was the remote reason the police work in partnership with other security agencies to adequately secure the electoral process.

He said there would be watertight security for the electorate to come out en masse to exercise their franchise on the election day proper. Meanwhile, he sought the platform of the stakeholders meeting to reel out the police riot act for the 2019 general elections amongst which were that political parties should refrain from campaigns involving religious, ethnic or tribal sentiments; that political parties should refrain from actions capable of igniting any form of violence, thuggery, defying or destruction of anything that would be tantamount to breakdown of law and order before, during and after the elections; that the police are ready to support all institutions of government to maintain neutrality and impartiality during the general elections.