23rd July, 2014
The Police Command in Rivers on Wednesday warned that it would deal decisively with politicians and youths who embarked on political rallies and campaigns in the state.
This was contained in a statement signed by the Commissioner of Police in the state, Tunde Ogunsakin, in Port Harcourt.
“The command unequivocally warned that anybody caught in this act would be decisively dealt within the ambit of the law,” he said.
Ogunsakin said that some political officeholders had flouted the ban on the disguise of local government familiarisation or courtesy visits to the local government areas.
He said that youths had hijacked such “visits” and turned them to full scale political rallies in spite of the ban on rallies and political campaigns.
“Any person or persons, political associations and pressure groups intending to hold any gathering must give the police five days notice to enable the command provide security to prevent any breach of peace in the state,” he said.
Ogunsakin said that it was the responsibility of the police to provide adequate security for such groups in line with Section 94(1) of the Electoral law.
“The command use this medium to warn various groups, public officeholders and corporate organisations to desist from carrying out activities that will disrupt the peaceful atmosphere we have worked assiduously to create.”
It would be recalled that Rivers state governor Rotimi Amaechi recently embarked on a tour of the local government areas in the state.