Nigerian policemen

By Jethro Ibileke 

The Edo State Police Command says it has trained no fewer than 500 officers and men for the handling and coverage of the 21 September governorship election.

Speaking at the opening ceremony of the training session, the State Commissioner of Police, Nemi Edwin-Iwo, stated that the training will equip the officers on how to handle election matters with a view to have a peaceful and credible election.

Edwin-Iwo who was represented by the Deputy Commissioner (Administration), Adepegba Adeoye, charged the trainees to pay close attention so that whatever information they gather could be passed to others at the station, thereby leading to peaceful environment during the election.

He called on the officers to cooperate with the trainers, saying “no knowledge is wasted and whatever they gathered at the training will be useful to them during the election.”

Also speaking, the GTA consulting firm handling the training, Chief Johson Ateghie, noted that “the essence of this training is to ensure that officers to be deployed to supervised the security of the  election and other stakeholders play on the same page and ensure that there is no discrimination, intimidation and orderly during the election so that the outcome of the election is acceptable to all players.”

One of the trainers, CSP Bawa Sale, disclosed that the trainees would be taken through discipline and code of conduct for police officers posted for election duties.

“This is to remind the officers of the code of conducts and those characteristics that are inherent in officers for day-to-day operation. It will enable them to maintain neutrality as well as the democratic right of the electorate,” he said.