Curled from VANGUARD
IKOT-EKPENE – Commissioner of Police
(CP), Akwa-Ibom State, Mr Gabriel Achon has warned that violence in the 2015
general elections in the country would be inevitable if politicians do not obey
the rules governing electoral process.
The Commissioner gave the warning in
Ikot-Ekpene Local Government Area at a-one day sensitization workshop ahead of
the 2015 general elections organized by the Akwa-Ibom State Police Command in
conjunction with the state’s branch of the Nigeria Bar Association (NBA) and
the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) lamenting that since
independence, elections in the country were widely flawed due to violence and
associated loss of lives and property.
“People the world-over, have
advocated the need for free and fair elections. This is often at great personal
risk. Where critical departures from acceptable rules governing the electoral
process are not met, violence may become inevitable.
“The role of the Nigeria Police
Force at ensuring free, fair and credible elections cannot therefore be
over_emphasized. The 2015 general elections are fast approaching. Training
programmes and dialogue among electoral stakeholders such as this are viable
tools in ensuring hitch-free elections.
“It is against this backdrop that
the Nigeria Police High Command as part of strategies evolved to ensure
security of the entire electoral process is organizing this one-day workshop
for its men, stakeholders and the general public”, CP Achon noted.
But the Paramount Ruler of Obot Akara
Local Government Area and father of the day, HRM Okuku Uwah Adiaka was
pessimistic that violence and fraud-free elections were possible in the country
and even in the advanced democracies.
The monarch rather enjoined the
police and other security arms to work towards bringing the trend to a
tolerable level.
HRM Adiaka commended the Nigeria
Police, Akwa-Ibom State, the NBA and INEC for the concern and vision
culminating in the sensitization workshop, the third in the serie and so, urged
politicians and other stakeholders to evolve decorum in their quests for
political power so as not to destabilize the system.
The workshop featured paper
presentation by the Acting Chairman of the NBA, Ikot-Ekpene Branch, Essien
Obong Eso entitled: “The Place of Law Enforcement in a Free and Fair Election”.
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