The Nigerian Police Force has reported the arrest of six individuals during the off-cycle governorship election in Edo State.
Deputy Inspector-General of Police, Frank Mba, revealed this information in Benin City while providing an update on the security agencies’ activities during the election.
The arrested individuals are currently in police custody, and four weapons along with live ammunition were confiscated from them.
Additionally, 58 voters’ cards were seized from one of the suspects, along with some stolen or illegally acquired Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) machines. Furthermore, a sum of money was also confiscated.
“We have a total of six persons arrested during the election. We also recovered a total number of four weapons of different makes. This is also a subject of a very wide investigation. Live ammunition were also recovered in the process of recovering those weapons.
“A total number of 58 voters cards that were in unlawful possession of a suspect, some stolen or illegally acquired BVAS machines were equally recovered, while we fully recovered some amounts in cash,” he said.
MBA added that the number of suspects to be arrested may go up as investigation is ongoing.
“We expect this number to shoot up in the course of investigations, because we expect that there will be accomplices.”
While describing the election as violence-free, he noted that throughout, there was no single threat recorded.
MBA added that there was no incident of kidnapping, assault or molestation of any Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, staff or other persons or other stakeholders involved in the election.
The DIG added that there was also no recorded incident of arson and assault on the police or members of other law enforcement agencies.
He noted that the security agencies were able to keep the land, air and waterways safe while citizens were able to go out to cast their vote with minimal incidents.
“In the course of this election, officers and men of the Nigerian Police Force and members of other law enforcement agencies conducted themselves in line with standards and best practices for policing the election.
“We were politically neutral. We observed due compliance with the laws and all the relevant guidelines surrounding the elections.
“There was no incident of misuse of firearms. We were fair, but we were firm. We were tough on the criminals, but we were protective of the law abiding and so it is with a sense of pride that I brief you today.
“Now that the elections are over, we have activated our post elections strategies. We are commencing massive patrols of the states. We’re putting in place a strategy that will give rise to high visibility policing.
“We will be conducting confidence building patrols, show of force and the protection of all critical assets of the state. We will be paying very special attention to public spaces and we will be paying very special attention to INEC facilities and government facilities.”
