According to the Ogun State Police Command, all political actors have been urged to conduct themselves civilly in order to stop any election-related violence and killings during the state’s elections.
Gunmen previously attacked members of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Eredo, in the state’s Yewa South Local Government Area, during the presidential and National Assembly elections in 2019, killing police corporal Sunday Idoko.
In addition, Oluwakemi Adeoye, a mother of six, was murdered by a stray bullet in the Ikenne LGA of the state after gunfire between security personnel and alleged political thugs during the gubernatorial and state House of Assembly elections in 2019.
Abimbola Oyeyemi, the state police public relations officer, responded to a question about the command’s readiness to prevent killings brought on by election-related violence in the state by saying that sufficient machinery had been deployed to ensure a free, fair, and credible conduct during and after elections in the state.
He added that all political actors had to sign agreements promising to behave peacefully during elections, and that the agreements had been formed in the presence of important state stakeholders including religious organizations.
“All the political actors in Ogun State have been engaged on various occasions, and they have all signed agreements with us pledging to behave peacefully,” said Oyeyemi.
“The commitments were signed in front of religious organizations and notable state figures, including Mr. Peter Ogunyanwo, a retired deputy inspector general of police. We have spoken with them, and they have assured us that nothing improper will occur during this election.
We have already put in place everything required equipment to ensure a free, fair, and credible conduct of the election, so as far as we are concerned, I don’t think such (Adeoye’s assassination) will occur.
“If you witnessed the electioneering campaign from the beginning, you will realize that we did not witness any sort of thuggery during the course of the campaign, and that will tell you the amount to which we are prepaid,”
Oyeyemi said the command had learned from the circumstances that led to the police corporal’s death in 2019 and had taken the necessary precautions to ensure the safety of security agents, INEC officials, and the general public. He added that the command would stop at nothing to ensure a peaceful electoral process in the state.
“We are working with other sister agencies, and tomorrow (election day), we have put everything in place to make sure that people will go out to vote and come back peacefully,” Oyeyemi added. The election will be held in an extremely tranquil environment.
“We have established order; all of our tactical teams, Area Commanders, and Divisional Police Officers have been instructed to keep a sharp eye out for anyone wishing to stir up disturbance. We are ready to go since more people have been sent to us from various police formations, including the Zonal headquarters, Force CID, and the Force headquarters in Abuja.
Security agencies can’t afford to be caught off guard twice, so we looked into the incident (the killing of Idoko) at the time, came to some conclusions, and had to draw lessons from it. We strengthened our degree of readiness as a result.
“Secondly, anyone trying to sabotage the election results now is futile because the results are already on the server before the poll workers even leave the polling places. As a result, if they manipulate election results, they are wasting their time because it won’t change the outcome of the vote, and politicians are already aware of it, so this kind of thing won’t happen again.