Ondo 2024: Army, police, NSCDC to jointly deploy 43,157 officers -IGP

Mr Egbetokun said the police will deploy its available human and material assets to secure the 18 LGAs, 203 wards, and 3,933 polling units of the state.

The Inspector General of Police, Olukayode Egbedokun, has given a breakdown of the security operatives’ deployment for the Ondo State Governorship election holding on Saturday.

While addressing stakeholders in Akure on Friday, Mr Egbedokun said a total of 43,157 security personnel comprising all security agencies, will be available for the poll.

Of the number, the police will be deploying 34,757 personnel to polling units, wards and local government collation centres across the state.

Earlier in the week, the police force had placed the figure at 22,239 officers. It was not immediately clear why the figure was increased.

Breakdown

Mr Egbetokun said adequate preparations and measures have been put in place for the success of the exercise, noting that the police will deploy its available human and material assets to secure the 18 LGAs, 203 Wards, and 3,933 polling units of the state.

He said a detailed operation order for the election has been prepared and that the police will deploy a total of 34,657 personnel to the polling units, wards/LGA collation centres as well as other strategic locations.

The police boss said: “It is expected that Four (4) Police personnel will be deployed at each polling unit, which then implies that 15,732 conventional police personnel will be required for the 3,933 polling units and voting points in the state.

“This will be complemented by the Armed Forces, the Intelligence Security Agencies and other sister Security Agencies. A total of Eight thousand, five hundred (8,500) personnel from the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Correctional Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, Federal Road Safety Corps and the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency will be deployed to augment the Police strength.

“This will bring the total number of security personnel deployed for the election to 43,157.”

Anticipating peaceful poll

The IGP said all the necessary steps had been taken to ensure a peaceful election in the state, saying the “flash points have been analysed and actions have been taken to forestall any breach of peace.”

He also said the police will timeously provide enough Armoured Personnel Carrier (APCs), Trucks, Patrol Vehicles, Buses for covert operations; Ambulances, Helicopters, Drones, K9 and anti-riot equipment to complement the strength of Ondo State Command.

According to him, all the deployments would be in place on or before Monday, 11 November.

Not less than 17 political parties and their candidates signed a Peace Accord on Friday in a bid to ensure smooth sail before, during and after the election.

They agreed that they would not to resort to unconstitutional means in resolving disputes should they arise in the course of the election.