The Commandant General of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps NSCDC, Dr Ahmed Abubakar Audi has approved the deployment of 9,747 officers and men to provide watertight security for Saturday’s governorship election in Ekiti State.

Director, Public Relations at the Corps’ National Headquarters, Mr Olusola Odumosu made this known in a statement issued in Abuja on Wednesday.

The Commandant General charged the personnel involved in election duty to be professional in their conduct by allowing the Standard Operating Procedure (SOP) of the Corps to guide their performances; stressing that, the service must remain apolitical and neutral to avoid any form of compromise during the election.

He maintained that necessary machinery has been put in place to provide effective security for INEC officials, sensitive and non-sensitive materials, before, during and after the election, reiterating that all the 2,445 polling units, collation centres, flashpoints and other criminal hideouts are fully covered.

The statement added that personnel from Kogi, Edo, Lagos, Oyo, Osun, Ogun, Ondo, Zone J and the National Headquarters have been drafted to support the Ekiti State Command in beefing up security for the polls and protecting Critical National Assets in all the 16 Local Government Areas of the State.

“The composition of the deployment for Ekiti election includes personnel from the Arms Squad, Chemical, Biological Radiological and Explosives Unit (CBRNE) Special Weapon and Tactics (SWAT), Kennel Unit, Counter-Terrorism Unit, Rapid Response Squad (RRS), Special Female Squad, Ops Special Squad and CG’s Special Monitoring team.”

“Assistant Commandant General (ACG) Special Duties, Haruna Lawal Muhammed, fdc, has been deployed to head and coordinate the election operations in the state, to be assisted by the Zonal Commander (Zone J) and other Senior Officers in the zone”, the statement added.

Vanguard/Maxwell Oyekunle