The Deputy Inspector-General of Police in charge of policing for the Osun governorship election, Johnson Kokumo, has given the assurance that action has been taken to ensure a peaceful election.
He said this on Friday during an appearance on Politics Today where he also allayed fears about the activities of cultists in the state and provided information about police deployment in the state.
“We’ve been able to make adequate arrangements to take care of the possible consequences of the activities of the cultists. That is, effecting their arrest before the election and of course mopping up light weapons in circulation,” the DIG said in response to reports of cult clashes in parts of the state.
“This is intended to create a conducive atmosphere where the gubernatorial election will take place without crisis.”
Asked how many cultists have been arrested, he said, “Not less than 15 of them”, adding that they will be prosecuted.
Those arrested were picked up across the state, a move that the DIG believes has yielded positive results.
In terms of personnel deployment, the police DIG said 21,000 policemen have been deployed along with three helicopters and three gunboats.
“Our deployment has covered the coastal areas; it has covered the land and, of course, the air,” he said.
With regards to VIPs and top politicians who have police escorts, the DIG said the directive for their escort to relinquish their arms ahead of the poll was being complied with.
He also said that identification tags have been developed for all policemen on election duty and any policeman without the tags who goes near a polling unit will be arrested.