Victor Ezeja
AS the people of Anambra State go to the polls today to elect their governor for the next four years, the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Echeng Echeng has assured of adequate security to ensure the safety of voters in the exercise.
Echeng gave the assurance this morning while calling on Silverbird TV programme on Anambra Decides 2021 to brief the public on the level of preparedness of the security forces to ensure safety during the polls.
Eneng said there is calmness across different parts of the state early Saturday morning, urging eligible voters to come out en mass and cast their votes promising that nothing untoward would happen.
On the level of preparedness of the security operatives for the election, Echeng said officers have been heavily deployed to different parts of the state.
The state police boss also stated that there is currently aerial surveillance team moving around the entire state and assisting those on the ground with information to enable them to combat insecurity anywhere across the state.
On the issue of civilian interaction with the security operatives, the CP said officers have been given serious orientation on the need to maintain a civil approach in dealing with civilians in the cause of the election to avoid scaring away voters from polling units.
About 35, 000 police officers have been deployed to the 21 local governments across the state to provide security during the election due to the spate of violence witnessed in the state in the past few months which were considered a huge threat to the election.
Reports early Saturday morning show that many people across the state are yet to come out ostensibly due to fear of attack.
In some locations, electoral materials have arrived and INEC officials are getting ready for voting to start.
According to Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), there are 5,634 polling units and over 2.5 million registered voters in the state. The voting is expected to start by 8:30 am and end by 2:30 pm after which collation of votes starts.
Victor Ezeja is a passionate journalist with seven years of experience writing on economy, politics and energy. He holds a Master's degree in Mass Communication.
