March 18 Poll: Police Assure Safety

The Police said it had deployed the entire officers and men of the Bayelsa State Command for Saturday’s House of Assembly election in the state.

The Commissioner of Police in charge of election security in Bayelsa, Mohammed Dankwara, said this while addressing journalists during the deployment of officers and other personnel at the state headquarters in Yenagoa.

He assured the people of the state, particularly voters, of adequate security before, during and after the assembly poll.

Dankwara, who called on residents of the state to come out to participate in the election without fear, said the command was working with other security and paramilitary agencies to ensure violence-free balloting.

He, however, debunked the alleged security breach in the state, noting that rumours of threats to the peace were orchestrated to cause panic and put fear in the people.
According to him, the entire police command including the tactical and mobile teams, had been deployed for election duties in the state.

Dankwara said, “As you can see right now, we have concluded our deployment and everything is in top gear; and at the end of the day, we are expected to have a rancour-free election.

“We are deploying the entire command. Sometimes, it will not be wise for me to give tabulations but the whole command, both the tactical and mobile teams, have been deployed.

“I don’t think there is any security breach, sometimes people raise the bar just to put fear in other people. You are a witness to the last election conducted three weeks ago and there was no security breach. People are just trying to create panic.”