IGP Egbetokun deploys CP to lead operation for Anambra Guber election
IGP Egbetokun deploys CP to lead operation for Anambra Guber election
The Inspector General of Police, Dr. Kayode Egbetokun, has deployed CP Abayomi Shogunle, to oversee security operations in Anambra State ahead of the November 8 governorship election.
The announcement was made in a press release by SP Tochukwu Ikenga, spokesperson for the Anambra State Police Command, confirming that Shogunle has assumed duty as the Commissioner of Police responsible for ensuring a secure electoral process.
Ikenga stated: “Upon assumption of duty, CP Shogunle activated the IGP’s Enforcement Protocol for anti-electoral offences to ensure zero tolerance for ballot snatching, vote buying, political thuggery, and voter intimidation.
“The CP has also emplaced a central command framework to ensure real-time intelligence sharing, coordination, and rapid response, with a joint deployment of over 60,000 security personnel of agencies within the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES), who will secure the 5,720 polling units with tactical reserves along inter-LGA and state boundaries, and also designated election collation centers.
“The CP has also stepped up the Electoral Offences Desk to monitor social media and online spaces towards identifying cyber-related crimes for prompt investigation and prosecution.”
According to Ikenga, CP Shogunle’s deployment follows the policing operational strategy approved by the IGP, aimed at strengthening strategic security planning to ensure a peaceful, credible, and transparent election in the state.
The CP also reiterated the total ban on all vigilante groups such as Agunechemba and other quasi-security outfits, emphasizing that “only the federal government security agencies are authorized to provide election security duties as provided by the laws of the federation.”
Ikenga added that VIP movements with armed escorts or security aides at polling and collation centers are strictly prohibited. Violators will face “immediate apprehension, withdrawal of such escorts, and prosecution.”
He further stated: “Only designated INEC officials, accredited observers, and journalists are allowed to move freely between designated areas.”
