Nigeria’s Chief of Defence Staff (CDS), General Lucky Irabor, has assured Nigerians that the country’s armed forces and security agencies are prepared to ensure a secure environment for the 2023 elections.
Development Diaries reports that the defence chief gave this assurance after a meeting in Abuja with service chiefs and heads of security agencies.
Nigerians will head to the polls Saturday, 25 February, in presidential and legislative elections.
For those planning to scuttle the smooth electoral process, General Irabor said, ‘They better have a rethink because they will have a bloody nose’.
He called on Nigerians to go and cast their votes for candidates of their choice without fear of being attacked as adequate security measures have been put in place to protect law-abiding citizens.
General Irabor had in January 2022 vowed to ensure that bandits got the ‘bloody nose that they so desire’. However, the security situation in Nigeria has not improved since then.
According to the Global Centre for the Responsibility to Protect, between January and March 2022, at least 360 people were killed by bandits in Kaduna State alone, while on 10 April more than 100 people were killed in attacks on several communities in the Kanam local government area of Plateau State.
Yiaga Africa, in a pre-election report released in December 2022, raised concerns about the possibility of insecurity hampering Nigeria’s 2023 elections.
It further urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to urgently convene an emergency session of the Inter-Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) to address security concerns.
Recall that President Muhammadu Buhari recently unveiled a large catchment of arms, ammunition, and riot-control agents. This was as he urged the armed forces and security agencies to provide adequate security in ensuring peaceful conduct of the polls.
Show of force
While it is understandable that the armed forces and the security agencies are doing due diligence in trying to assure Nigerians of their safety, they should also be careful not to cause a scare that might lead to voter apathy.
Heavily armed security operatives patrolling major streets across the country could give the impression that a war is expected and not elections, which could create fear among Nigerians.
Development Diaries calls on all the security operatives to rely more on intelligence in order to carry out their operations, as this would lead to taking action where it is needed.
We also reiterate our call to them to ensure that sensitive and non-sensitive materials, INEC staff, observers, journalists and voters are protected pre, during and post-elections.
Photo source: AMISOM Public Information
