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Tag: Rivers rerun

  • Rivers rerun: Rights group sues govt for setting up commission of inquiry

    A human rights group, International Society for Social Justice and Human Rights (ISSJHR) has sued the Rivers State government and members of the Commission of Inquiry set up to investigate the killings that followed the December 10, 2016, rerun/ supplementary elections in Rivers State before the federal high court in Port Harcourt, describing the commission as illegal. The group said the state government lacks the requisite constitutional authority or standing to set up a commission of inquiry to investigate the killing that took place during the election.

    Governor Nyesom Wike, on 22nd December, 2016, set up a commission of inquiry to investigate the remote and immediate causes of the violence and killings that took place during the rerun legislative elections in the states. But, in a suit No: FHC/PH/CS/02/2017 which was obtained by our reporter, the group, which is the plaintiff in the matter, is seeking a clarification from the court to know where the defendants/ respondents, which include the Rivers State government, the Attorney General of the state and Rivers State House of Assembly got its power.

    Speaking with newsmen, the Chancellor of the group, Chief Omenazu Jackson and Paul Nwankwoala, the Director of Legal Services, said they are in court to inform the world that the commission of inquiry set up by Rivers State government is unconstitutional, illegal, null and void. Nwankwoala said his group has an order restraining the commission’s chairman, secretary and members from continuing to sit as a commission or to investigate the causes of the violence and killing during the December 10, 2016 rerun.

  • Police panel arrests 23 INEC officials over Rivers rerun

    Police panel arrests 23 INEC officials over Rivers rerun

    The police are holding 23 Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials for their roles in the Rivers State rerun elections.

    Besides, the Special Investigation Panel has asked INEC Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu to release the agency’s administrative secretaries in Anambra and Plateau states for interrogation.

    The police informed INEC of the arrests in two letters to the chairman by the Chairman of the Special Joint Investigation Panel, DCP Damian Okoro.

    The letters, which were exclusively obtained by The Nation, indicated that “further development will be communicated to INEC chairman.”

    The first letter reads in part: “I write to inform you of the arrest of the under-listed staff of the commission who served in the 10th December 2016 Rivers State National/State Legislative re-run elections.

    “The names of the officers and present posting are: Ewatade P. Taiwo (Oyo); Aminu Karimu (Oyo); Adedokun Najeem Ayotunde (Oyo); Balogun Funmilayo (Oyo); Agams O. Kadiri (Oyo); Akinwande R. Adesoji(Oyo); Lukeman Olabimpe(Oyo); Tiamiyu R. Arowolo(Oyo); Akinwoye Amodu A (Anambra) and Iro Abali Mba(Anambra).

    “Others are Enuke Patrick(Anambra); Nwosu Oluchi G.(Anambra); Arukwe Chinelo(Anambra); Henry Owokure(Anambra); Nwoha Yusuf(Anambra); Hussaina Yahaya Tanko(Plateau); Gayus Hassan(Plateau); Ivase Stephen Aondona(Plateau); Abdullahi Ogabo(Plateau); Gwatana Jibril Joseph( Plateau); and Mohammed L. Sittu(Plateau).”

    The second letter, which is dated January 16, 2017, states: “My earlier letter dated 13th January 2017 in respect of the arrest of 21 electoral officers who served as Electoral Officers in the 10th December 2016 Rivers State National/ State Legislative  re-run elections refers.

    “I wish to inform you that Mrs. Mary Tunkoyo, the electoral officer at Emohua LGA and Mr. James Ogwuche who served as electoral officer at Ahoada West LGA are also in custody of the panel.

    “More so, in the course of the investigation, the need to seek certain clarification/information from the Administrative Secretaries of Anambra and Plateau states has become imperative.

    “You are kindly requested to inform and release the two officers for interview at the Special Joint Investigation Panel at Commissioners Lounge, Ground Floor, Nigeria Police Force Headquarters, Abuja.”

    “The panel is questioning some of those invited.

    “One key area of investigation which led to the invitation of the electoral officers borders on alleged bribery of poll officers, interference with voting process by politicians and outright snatching of ballot boxes. These electoral officers are at advantage in giving more insights into what happened during the re-run elections,” a source said, adding:

    “So far, all the officers are innocent until the investigation panel establishes any case beyond reasonable doubt against them.”

    The 15-man panel, headed by DCP Damien Okoro, comprises the police and the Department of State Services (DSS) with investigative, forensic and technical experts.

    “The panel is to

    • Conduct a thorough investigation into the role of security agents before, during and after the election;
    • examine the role of any police officer or security agent whose actions or activities individually or collectively was detrimental to the good conduct of the elections;
    • conduct a forensic analysis on the audio report released by Sahara Reporters as it concerns the election.
    • examine any other matter that is relevant to the conduct of the elections, and make recommendations and implementation strategies to guide future elections.’

    But Wike on Monday approached the Abuja Division of the Federal High Court for an order stopping the  probe.

    In the ex-parte motion by his counsel, Chief Mike Ozekhome( SAN,), Wike prayed the court to “restrain the defendants or their agents from enforcing or executing matters contained in a letter the IGP wrote to Wike on December 20, 2016 on the probe”.

  • Rivers rerun: Wike accuses IGP’s panel of bias

    Rivers State Governor Nyesom Wike has told members of the Nigeria Police Special Joint Investigation Panel on the December 10 bloody legislative rerun that the panel was established by Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris with the aim of assisting All Progressives Congress (APC) candidates at the Election Petitions Tribunal.

    Wike also said his administration had challenged the setting up of the allegedly biased panel in court, whose Chairman, Damian Okoro, a Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP), is said to be a defendant in the matter.

    The governor said Rivers residents would not participate in the activities of the panel.

    Wike said the panel was set up to witch-hunt the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its members while shielding the policemen who the APC allegedly used to commit electoral fraud.

    Speaking yesterday at the Government House in Port Harcourt, the state capital, when members of IGP’s panel visited him, the governor said the police were being used to protect the interest of a particular politician in the state.

    He said: “I must tell you, with all honesty, that my people and I will not participate in the sittings of this panel. We have challenged the setting up of this panel in court.

    “Let there be a judicial pronouncement on this matter. It will enrich our jurisprudence. This panel has not shown us that it will not be biased.

    “All these activities are orchestrated so that APC will use the materials therefrom at the tribunal. Even you, as the chairman of the panel, cannot say from your conscience that you are not biased.”

    Wike also said the police high command attempted to deny the video evidence of the invasion of Rivers East Senatorial District collation centre by Akin Fakorede and his Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) operatives.

    He wondered why the police refused to make public how Mohammed Alkali, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), was beheaded, allegedly because the person indicted was a commissioner in the former administration of Rotimi Amaechi, the Minister of Transportation.

    Wike said: “The same Akin Fakorede, who was caught on video after he invaded the Rivers East Senatorial District collation centre, is the one who is arranging witnesses for the panel set up by the IGP.

    “Nobody is investigating the case of Rivers APC printing fake result sheets, which the police are trying to sweep under the carpet.”

    The governor also wondered why the IGP set up a panel, when he had made conclusions, as allegedly enunciated in his letter to him.

    He noted that since the IGP knew those who perpetrated the crime during the rerun, there was no need for him to still set up the panel.

    Wike said: “We believe that the panel has already taken a decision. We are convinced that the essence of the panel is to witch-hunt our people, and we have the evidence to prove this. We cannot because of one man’s interest destroy the state.

    “Already, you have dismissed policemen attached to me without even hearing from me. This is the same panel that claims it is investigating the conduct of all policemen during the rerun legislative rerun.”

    Okoro said the panel was in the state to interface with the governor on what transpired before, during and after the elections.

    The panel chairman said the panel would also examine the roles of security operatives during the rerun.

    The six dismissed policemen allegedly disobeyed senior police officers by preventing officials of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) from moving election results from polling units in

    Emohua Local Government to the appropriate collation centre.

    Their action allegedly contravened the provisions of Force Order 237.

    The errant policemen, on arriving at the collation centre with Wike, started shooting sporadically into the air, contrary to the directive of the IGP.

    IGP Idris said the six policemen flouted his directive not to support politicians to rig elections, leading to their dismissal for unethical conduct and to be prosecuted, to serve as a deterrent to others.

    The police authorities also stated that the six policemen were found guilty of breaching the police conduct, despite warnings from the IGP, according to the police Spokesperson, Don Awunah, who insisted that in the case of the December 10, 2016 parliamentary elections in Rivers, IGP’s resolve to secure the process was reciprocated with the unethical conduct of some “bad eggs” within the police force.

    The affected policemen are: AP/No.177893, ex. Inspr. Eyong Victor; F/No. 400872, ex. Sgt Peter Ekpo;  F/No.374585, ex. Sgt Oguni Goodluck; F/No. 385870, ex. Sgt. Orji Nwoke; F/No. 234216 ex. Sgt. Okpe Ezekiel and F/No. 437983, ex. Sgt. Tanko Akor.

  • Rivers will not participate in probe panel on rerun poll – Wike

    Rivers State Governor, Nyesom  Wike, has said the people of the state will not participate in the Nigerian Police Special Joint Investigation Panel on Rivers rerun election.

    Wike also announced that his government has challenged the setting up of the panel in court with the Chairman of the panel, DCP Damian Okoro, as one of the defendants.

    He insisted that people of the state will not participate in the activities of the panel.

    The governor said the panel was set up by the Inspector General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, with a predetermined goal of assisting the All Progressives Congress (APC) at the election tribunal.

    Speaking in Government House, Port Harcourt, on Wednesday when members of the investigation panel visited him, the governor said it was regrettable that the Nigerian police is being used to protect the interest of a particular politician in the state.

    He also said the panel is biased with an agenda targeted at his party, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) and its members, while shielding policemen allegedly used by the APC to commit electoral fraud.

     

     

  • Rivers rerun: PDP accuses Amaechi of manhandling members, INEC officials

    Rivers rerun: PDP accuses Amaechi of manhandling members, INEC officials

    •APC: minister didn’t order molestation

    The Rivers State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has accused Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi of ordering men of the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) to beat up its members and a senior officer of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) during the December 10 legislative rerun.
    The party said the head of a senior official of INEC was broken by SARS men.
    PDP’s Publicity Secretary Samuel Nwanosike addressed reporters yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, on what transpired during the rerun.
    The PDP spokesman said he was manhandled and beaten up by SARS operatives.
    Nwanosike was reacting to a statement credited to the Director-General of the Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Dr Dakuku Peterside, that Governor Nyesom Wike’s conduct was embarrassing the state.
    The party spokesman said Amaechi allegedly stormed the Ikwerre collation centre on the Election Day with about 800 soldiers and 1,000 policemen with heavy weapons.
    He said the minister allegedly ordered the security agents to beat up and chase away everybody at the collation centre, adding that he was beaten up with other PDP agents and some INEC officials.
    Nwanosike said: “On December 12, last year, Amaechi, in company of Emma Chindah, who was fingered by Peterside’s cousin of involvement in fake ballot paper printing and Akin Fakorede, stormed the collation centre after hijacking Ikwerre result the previous night with barrels of machine guns and armoured tanks.
    “Over 1,000 policemen and over 800 military officers stormed Ikwerre Local Government’s INEC office to scuttle a peaceful election. They harassed everybody, including myself. As the agent of Thompson Goerge Sekibo, I was manhandled, thoroughly beaten up and dragged out of INEC office.
    “The Returning Officer and Collation Officer and all party agents were beaten up in the presence of Amaechi.
    “The next day, they went round Port Harcourt and attacked many people. On December 12, they stole the Emohua result, which they failed to hijack from Ikwerre Local Government.”
    But All Progressives Congress (APC) State Publicity Secretary Chris Finebone said Amaechi did not visit any polling unit or collation centre on the Election Day except the one at Ubima, his ward.
    The APC spokesman said it was at Ubima the minister cast his vote.
    He wondered how Amaechi would have ordered the police to beat up somebody when he did visit any other polling unit except where he voted on December 10.
    Finebone said the dismissal of six police officers from the state police command was in order because they were found guilty of electoral misconduct.
    The APC spokesman added that PDP’s allegations against Amaechi were baseless.

  • Rivers Rerun: Wike, PDP demand recall of sacked policemen

    Rivers Rerun: Wike, PDP demand recall of sacked policemen

    Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, and the leadership of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) have demanded the reinstatement of the six police officers dismissed by the Inspector General of Police, Mr. Ibrahim Idris. Wike assured that he will not abandon the six dismissed policemen.

    He stated that the government and people of Rivers State would also stand with the policemen, allegedly illegally dismissed by the police authorities for political reasons, claiming that they committed no crime known to law.

    Wike hinted that the government and people of Rivers state would pursue the policemen’s dismissal through laid down legal processes to its logical conclusion.

    He spoke yesterday in Ahoada East Local Government Area of the state, during the defection of a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Cassidy Ikegbidi, who is a former Chairman of Ahoada East LG council of Rivers.

    In a statement yesterday by the spokesman of the PDP, Prince Dayo Adeyeye, the party condemned the dismissal of the officers, saying their indictment was a ruse.

    “The offence adduced for their secret trial and subsequent dismissal was a mere concoction and a ruse.

    “The hurried dismissal of these police men is another valid pointer to the pre-election rigging plans and the assassination attempt on Governor Wike by the APC led administration before the December 10, 2016 rerun election in Rivers State.

    It will be recalled that the Nigeria Police Force withdrew over 70 percent of its personnel deployed to Rivers State Government House and the Chief Security Officer (CSO) to the Governor a few days to the election.

    “It is obvious by this latest action that the APC led administration after the failed assassination attempt on Governor Wike, decided to punish the six police officers who defended their oath of office and job ethics by refusing to carry out hatchet plans”, the statement said.

    The party dismissed the accusation of professional misconduct leveled against the officers, saying they were only performing their constitutional duties.

    It described the action of the police authorities as a slap on the rule of law, ethical responsibility of police duties and the tenets of democratic values.

    It would be recalled that the six policemen were dismissed for unethical conduct during the December 10 last year’s controversial and bloody legislative rerun in Rivers state.

    The Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, stated that the six errant policemen flouted his directive not to support politicians to rig elections.

     

  • Rivers rerun: Six Wike’s police aides dismissed

    Rivers rerun: Six Wike’s police aides dismissed

    The Governor of Rivers State, Nyesom Wike, has described the dismissal of six “innocent” police officers by the authorities of the Nigeria Police Force as a sad day for Nigeria.

    Wike, who spoke through the Rivers State Commissioner for Information and Communications, Dr. Austin Tam-George,  also demanded immediate reinstatement of the dismissed policemen.

    In an online press statement titled “Wrongful Dismissal of Governor Wike’s Six Police Details: Tragic Day for Professionalism in the Nigerian Police,” the governor said: “The Rivers State Government notes with infinite sadness the decision of the Nigeria Police to dismiss the six police officers attached to Governor Nyesom Wike.

    “The police officers were subjected to a secret and unfair trial on totally fictitious charges of professional misconduct during the rerun elections in Rivers State on December 10, 2016.

    “This is a tragic day for professionalism and the respect for human rights in the Nigeria Police Force.

    “The dismissed officers committed no crime other than foil a carefully-orchestrated electoral heist by officials of INEC in collusion with the APC and the Nigeria Police Force.

    “The claim by the police that the affected officers misused their firearms while in the convoy of Governor Wike on December 10, 2016 is a wrong and cruel fabrication.

    “Governor Wike did not depart from his official premises on the day of the elections and therefore had no use for an armed convoy.

    “Two days after the elections, on December 12, 2016, thousands of Rivers people, led by Governor Wike, resisted an invasion by the police on the premises of the Port Harcourt City Local Government Council, in a brazen attempt to rig the elections in favour of the APC.

    “The Port Harcourt City Council was the election collation centre for the Rivers

    East Senatorial District.

    “Throughout the period of the stand off between the invading police officers

    and the thousands of citizens who resisted them, Governor Wike and the officers around him conducted themselves with utmost restraint.

    “The dismissed officers are therefore the latest victims of the medieval dictatorship of the APC government. A government that seems to lurch blindly in the miasma of its own incompetence and intolerance.”

    Governor Wike also urged Nigerians to demand the immediate reinstatement of the dismissed officers and for the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, to allow an independent inquiry.

    Wike alleged that the APC government had never hidden its desperation to overrun Rivers State, colonise its people and loot the treasury of the state, adding that Rivers people would continue to resist all attempts to enslave them.

    However, the Rivers State chapter of the All Progressives Congress (APC) described the dismissal of six policemen for unethical conduct during the December 10 legislative rerun in the state as a clear indictment of Governor Wike.

    Speaking through its Publicity Secretary, Chris Finebone, in Port Harcourt yesterday, the party maintained that the decision of the Inspector-General of Police (IGP), Ibrahim Idris, to dismiss the six errant policemen who flouted his directive not to support politicians to rig elections was a step that would ensure sanity in the Nigeria Police Force.

    APC in Rivers said: “The dismissal of the six policemen is a clear indictment on Wike over his violation of electoral regulations in the December 10 rerun elections in Rivers State.

    “We believe that it is just a tip of the iceberg of what will be unravelled that were perpetrated by the Rivers State governor during the rerun.

    “Nigerians are waiting for the IGP’s panel report that will seal the fate of Wike and his accomplices within the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).”

     

  • Rivers rerun: Six policemen arrested for professional misconduct

    At least six policemen have been arrested for professional misconduct during the December 10, 2016 parliamentary rerun elections in Rivers.

    The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that those arrested are – Ex-Insp. Eyong Victor, Ex-Sgt. Peter Ekpo, Ex-Sgt. Ogun I. Goodluck, Ex-Sgt. Orji Nwoke, Sgt. Okpe Ezekiel and Ex-Sgt. Tanko Akor.

    The Force spokesman, Don Awunah, disclosed this while presenting the suspects to journalists in Abuja on Friday.

    “In the course of discreet investigations into the above misconduct, the following personnel were found to have in total disrespect to orders and directives, compromised, engaged in unprofessional acts,” he said.

    He said the suspects who were subjected to internal disciplinary measures were found guilty and dismissed from the force.

    Awunah added that the suspects would be prosecuted under the Electoral Act to serve as a deterrent to other police personnel.

    He explained that the suspects took laws into their hands and opened fire on the crowd.

    “They joined in storming the Port Harcourt City Council secretariat and prevented the movement of election results in Emouha polling unit to the appropriate collation centre,” he said.

    The force spokesman said the suspects in convoy of the Rivers State governor, Nyesom Wike, on the election day misused firearms contrary to Force Order 237.

    He said the suspects violated the warnings and instructions from the police high command that officers on duty should desist from escorting their principals (public officers and politicians) on election days.

     

     

  • Rivers rerun: PDP chair, Abe disagree on petition

    Rivers rerun: PDP chair, Abe disagree on petition

    The Rivers State chairman of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Chief Felix Obuah, and the senator representing Rivers Southeast, Magnus Abe, have disagreed on the plan of the party’s candidate to approach the Election Petitions Tribunal over the outcome of the December 10 last year’s legislative rerun.
    Obuah, yesterday in Port Harcourt, the state capital, hinted that the party would challenge Abe’s declaration as the senator-elect by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
    Abe, a former Secretary to the Rivers State Government (SSG) in the previous Rotimi Amaechi’s administration, said he had nothing to fear about Obuah’s decision and the party’s candidates to challenge the outcome of the rerun at the tribunal.
    The All Progressives Congress (APC) candidate said it was PDP’s right to challenge the result, if it had legal grounds to do so.
    But he said the challenger would fail again, since the electorate in his senatorial district massively voted for him and other APC candidates.
    Obuah said: “The declaration of Abe as winner in the purported election was a grave error, as available records show that the military, Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) personnel and other security agencies massively rigged the election in Rivers Southeast Senatorial District on December 10, 2016, in favour of Mr. Abe.
    “The right of the people of Rivers Southeast Senatorial District to select the candidate of their choice, through the ballot box, is sacrosanct and must not be toyed with. The PDP will never rest until this injustice against the people is addressed and the opportunity to have a candidate of their choice given to them, as of right.
    “The PDP has sufficient evidence to show that what happened in the Rivers Southeast Senatorial District on December 10, last year, was nothing but a display of military bravado against the PDP and the Ogoni as orchestrated by the combined forces of Abe and Barry Mpigi (an APC chieftain) on one hand and SARS operatives, policemen and soldiers on the other.”
    The Rivers PDP chairman also said he was optimistic that members of his party would have the last laugh at the tribunal.
    According to him, Abe is only a caretaker senator of the APC who was allegedly smuggled into the Senate with the connivance of INEC, SARS, the Army and the police.
    Obuah said his tenure in the Senate would be short-lived.
    The PDP chairman urged residents of Rivers Southeast Senatorial District, especially the party’s candidate, Olaka Nwogu, to remain calm and hopeful.
    He said anything taken through the backdoor would not stand.
    Obuah expressed optimism that Nwogu would reclaim his mandate.
    He said: “Abe’s desperation for power will soon be exposed as evidenced by his recent clandestine activities. Abe has, in the past weeks, been concocting results in his private home, just to ensure that they tally with the figures manufactured for him by INEC.
    “This is part of the measures being taken by the caretaker senator on his fraudulent declaration by the INEC, being challenged by the PDP.”
    But Abe, a lawyer, who was the Chairman of the Senate Committee on Petroleum (Downstream) in the Seventh National Assembly, described Obuah as a liar.
    The senator-elect said he never concocted any result, adding that since his people loved him, he would always win elections in the senatorial district.
    He said: “My problem with PDP, his Rivers Chairman and Wike is that they do not want the people to exercise their freedom in the choice of their candidates. Rather, they prefer to intimidate the people and select winners.
    “My election shows that the will of the people will triumph, if only the Nigerian state will protect and guarantee their right of freedom against enemies of democracy.
    “Nigeria is a democracy and the main ingredient of democracy is freedom. People must be free to do what they want to do. People cannot be threatened over what they believe. People cannot be killed over which political party they choose to associate with.”
    The APC chieftain also expressed optimism that he would still emerge victorious at the tribunal.
    He advised his teeming supporters and other Rivers residents to ignore what he called the lies by Wike, Obuah and their supporters.

  • Rivers rerun: Policemen’s heads cut, thrown into river, says IGP

    Rivers rerun: Policemen’s heads cut, thrown into river, says IGP

    The bodies of two officers – Mohammed Alkali, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP) and his driver, Sergeant Peter Uchi – who were kidnapped during the December 10 legislative rerun in Rivers State, have been found, the police said yesterday.

    Inspector-General of Police (IGP) Ibrahim Idris spoke in Abuja when he hosted Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Chairman Prof. Mahmood Yakubu in his office.

    The INEC chairman was on a condolence visit to the police chief on the death of Alkali and Uchi during the violent Rivers rerun.

    The IGP said heads of the policemen were severed and thrown into the river.

    He said: “We lost two of our officers on the day of the election. They were kidnapped, their heads were severed and their bodies were buried in shallow graves. The vehicle in which they were kidnapped has been recovered.

    “We have recovered their bodies but, unfortunately, the information we got from the suspects we arrested showed that after severing their heads, the killers threw their heads into the river.”

    On the panel the police authority set up to probe the violence that occurred during the rerun, Idris said: “So far, we have arrested four suspects and we have recovered some weapons. Investigation is, however, on because we are expanding the scope of investigation.

    “I want to assure this country that we will leave no stone unturned to ensure that those found indicted in this investigation, no matter their status, are going to be held responsible for it.

    “These people were killed, not because of any personal issue but because they answered the call of duty to serve in the election that took place in Rivers. It is sad that their lives have to end like this.”

    On what happened during the election, Idris said: “The situation in Rivers is an indication that leaders and politicians have a lot to contribute to the smoothness of an election. When you have people in leadership who do not take the responsibility of being leaders, this is what happens. These are issues that constitute a threat to Nigerians.”

    The IGP said the electoral violence witnessed in Rivers State would be the last in the country.

    He said: “A panel will be inaugurated tomorrow (today) which consists of specialists and professionals who will look into ending electoral violence in the country.

    “We are also getting support from civil society organisations (CSOs) from outside the country, especially those who feel committed that it is time for Nigeria to have peaceful elections. They are offering support in audio analysis of some audio recordings that have been viral on Facebook. Very soon, they will be in the country to assist us on some of these audio recordings.

    “These are steps taken to ensure that we get to the bottom of this election violence. By the grace of God, Rivers will be the last state where we are going to have this kind of experience. It will never happen again.”

    The IGP noted that for elections to be successful in any state, there must be commitment among government officials and party members.

    Idris said: “The incident in Rivers shows that for us to have a peaceful election, apart from agencies that are major stakeholders, we need the support of the government and the people in areas where the elections are conducted. If the people in charge of governance, political parties and the citizens are not ready to cooperate, then it will be difficult to conduct a peaceful and smooth process.”

    Yakubu said INEC would be involved in the burial of the police officers.

    He said: “We condole with you and the Police on the loss of your gallant officers in the course of the Rivers rerun through national service. It is with a heavy heart that we wish to condole with you and the family of the DSP and the Sergeant who died in Rivers state.

    “People often fail to realise that securing the environment for Nigerians comes with great risks. People pay with their lives to protect the environment to enable us conduct free and fair elections.”

    The INEC chief acknowledged that the commission could not conduct a successful election without the police.

    He said: “We feel diminished each time a member of the security agency loses his life on account of an election. I must state that we cannot conduct a successful election without the police. We are happy with the role that you have been playing as the lead agency for elections in the country.”