Ahead of the November governorship election in Kogi State, the police have charged political actors in the state to have positive attitude to guarantee peaceful and credible election.
Also, the Social Democratic Party (SDP) has urged President Bola Tinubu and the international community to wade into political violence in Kogi, alleging that the life of its candidate is under threat.
The Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) Zone 8, in charge of Kogi and Kwara police commands, Babatunde Ishola, gave the charge at Kogi Police Command in Lokoja, during a stakeholders’ meeting on peace and security towards the election.
Ishola, who stated that the police would not leave any stone unturned in ensuring that the election is violence-free, assured that the force would be deployed to every polling unit to avert snatching of boxes and protect all eligible voters.
He, however, advised politicians to sensitise their supporters, noting that whoever is caught perpetrating electoral violence would be apprehended and prosecuted.
“There should be no violence of any form before, during and after elections; no destruction of billboards, posters of political parties and no snatching of ballot boxes during elections,” he warned.
Kogi State Commissioner of Police, Akeem Yusuf, described the theme of the meeting, ‘Strengthening Community Engagement Towards a Violence-free Governorship Election’ as strategic and timely.
Meanwhile, SDP’s call for intervention followed the alleged plot to assassinate its governorship candidate, Muritala Alaka.
At a press conference in Abuja, yesterday, the National Secretary, Dr. Olu Agunloye, accused Governor Yahaya Bello of sponsoring attacks against political opponents.
Warning of a looming national crisis, if the trend is not tamed, Agunloye urged the President to address the brewing social tension and anarchy in Kogi.
According to him, after the first assassination attempt on the SDP candidate in June, the party was “aware that the Inspector General of Police cautioned Bello, but it seems that is not yielding results.”
He added: “This ugly situation has arisen from the prevailing reign of political terror against opposition parties, particularly SDP in Kogi. We are, therefore, repeating our call to the President for a special panel of enquiry to investigate the ongoing political terrorism, extra-judicial killings and threats to democracy and civil liberties in the state.
“This is a request for a definitive call to order for the Kogi governor to stop the unwarranted political extremism.”
