Less than a week to the October 10 governorship election in Ondo State, the military says it will deploy between 200 and 300 soldiers to the coastal areas to ensure a peaceful election in the riverine communities.
The Independent National Electoral Commission had identified the riverine areas as black spots, saying it had enlisted the help of the Navy and Military Police to flush out threats to the peaceful conduct of the exercise, especially in the creeks and other black spots in the state.
Officers and men of the Nigerian Navy and the Army had, on Thursday evening, carried out an exercise tagged ‘Show of Force’ on waterways in the Ilaje and Ese Odo local government areas of the state.
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The Commander of 32 Artillery Brigade of the Nigeria Army, Akure, Brig-Gen Zakari Abubakar, said the aim of the exercise was to signal a warning to hoodlums on the waterways that the security agencies were combat-ready to ensure that the election was violence-free.
Meanwhile, the Public Relations Officer of the brigade, Captain Ayo Omojokun, on Friday, said, “We are deploying between 200 and 300 men to the coastal areas for the election.”
The Information Officer of the Nigeria Navy Forward Operating Base, Igbokoda, Lieutenant Attah Sule, also said, “60 men will be deployed for the election with six gunboats and five speedboats.”
In a related development, the Federal Road Safety Corps says it has deployed 1,500 personnel for the election.
The Corps Public Education Officer, ACM Bisi Kazeem, in a statement on Saturday said the Corps Marshal, Dr Boboye Oyeyemi, also approved that 30 vehicles, including tow trucks, ambulances and other operational vehicles, be deployed for the exercise.
He said the Zonal Commanding Officer, RS11HQ Osogbo, Assistant Corps Marshal Godwin Ogagaoghene, would lead the team.
Similarly, the Inspector General of Police, Mohammed Adamu, on Friday, deployed the Deputy Inspector General of Police in charge of Research and Planning, Adeleye Oyabade, to oversee the general security arrangement for the governorship election in the state.
Also deployed to assist the DIG were the Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Federal Operations, Karma Hassan, and 11 commissioners of police.
