The Nigeria Police Force has warned Nigerians to shun acts capable of jeopardising the 2023 general elections.
Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi, gave the advice when he spoke with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday in Ibadan at the close of a conference organised for police spokesmen.
Adejobi noted that elections must be peaceful to produce the good governance for which Nigerians yearned.
He called on Nigerians to shun hooliganism, thuggery, vandalism and acts that could affect free, fair and credible election process.
“We all want to have free, fair and acceptable elections in 2023 and we need to work toward it; politicians must campaign peacefully and carry security agencies along in their campaigns.
“We are not saying you should take permission from us.
“However, politicians need to carry security agencies along for the latter to help to manage their timetables so that there will not be clashes during rallies,’’ he advised politicians and their supporters.
Adejobi told NAN that the conference discussed police strategic communication action plan for the 2023 general elections and beyond.
He said the plan would be forwarded to the relevant authority for implementation to assist the Inspector-General of Police and his management team to reposition the police.
He stressed that police spokesmen and women in the 37 commands and the 17 zones had been imbibed with new knowledge to make them more efficient.
“The message of the Inspector-General of Police to police spokesmen and women was that they needed to use effective communication skills to address conflicts and security challenges.
“We believe strongly that it is not every time that we should use kinetic approach in tackling insecurity.
“We want to dwell on non-kinetic methods to tackle insecurity and communication is very key and that is why we are focusing on police spokesmen,’’ he said.
Adejobi called on fun seekers to be moderate while celebrating the Christmas and New Year and to be security-conscious during the period and beyond.
