By Muhammad Nasir, Sokoto.
The Police Command in Sokoto State has warned election violators to have a rethink or face the consequences of their actions, as the movement towards the March 18 Governorship and State Assembly elections reaches a crescendo.
Mr Shettima Zanna, the Commissioner of Police deployed to Sokoto State for the Saturday’s elections, made the assertion at a meeting with political parties’ candidates and stakeholders on Thursday in Sokoto.
Zanna said that the police and other security agencies in the state had taken formidable steps to achieve the major objectives of the election processes.
He said: “This is toward providing an enabling environment for the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) and the public to have free, fair, credible and transparent elections.
“We have evaluated police performance at the previous Presidential and National Assembly elections.
“This is with a view to drawing lessons by identifying critical challenges, ascertaining performance gaps and addressing them in the future process.”
Zanna said that the police command had undertaken security threats analysis and up-scaled its level of preparedness for the elections across all the polling units across the 23 Local Government Areas of the state.
“With the productive outcome, resulting from the follow-up interaction with INEC and ICCES, we have put in place the requisite strategies to manage all identified threats.
“Therefore, I want to assure the citizens and the international community that the security (agencies) will ensure a secure space for the electorate to freely exercise their franchise,” he added.
Besides, Zanna urged the public to adhere strictly to the restriction on people’s movement order on the election day.
“However, quasi-security outfits such as vigilance groups and Sokoto Marshals have no role to play in election security; they should steer clear during the process,” he warned.
The commissioner also assured that the security agencies had the capacity and renewed determination to deal decisively with any elements that attempted to foment trouble before, during and beyond the elections.
“Any citizen that intends to offer himself to be used negatively should either have a rethink or be ready to face the consequences,” he warned.
