5th August, 2014
Acting Inspector-General of Police Suleiman Abba on Monday advised Nigerians who have no business in Saturday’s gubernatorial election in Osun to stay away from the state.
Abba said this while fielding questions from State House correspondents after a brief meeting with Vice-President Namadi Sambo at the Presidential Villa, Abuja.
He also warned those allegedly training thugs meant to foment trouble during the election that the law would take its course on anybody caught in the act.
“When I took over on Friday, I met an operational order in place; I went through it quickly and made a number of adjustments which include the fact that we need to be there (Osun) early enough; so I adjusted the time that officers were directed to report.
“I made sure that by (last) Saturday, they were there. And the aim is that if any one, is training anybody to cause violence, we are telling him that we will make sure the law takes its course.
“In fact, my advice is this: if you don’t have any business to do with Osun election, just don’t go there because the law will catch up with you,’’ he said.
According to him, only people who have official functions to perform in the state will be allowed to move freely within the state during the election, scheduled for Saturday.
Abba stated that he had to change the operational guidelines left behind for the election by his predecessor, Mr Mohammed Abubakar, to ensure peaceful conduct of the election.
On the challenges of insurgency and other violent crimes, the acting IG disclosed that his strategies for the combat of those crimes would come into place this week.
“I must tell you, I would like to categorise all of them whether insurgency or kidnapping or armed robbery, all of them are violent crimes.
“The first and foremost thing we are going to do is to make every effort that they do not continue to spread.
“These strategies will come into place before the end of the week, I assure you,’’ he said.