The Bayelsa State Police Command has disclosed that it would deploy 40,000 personnel to ensure peace and order during the November 11 gubernatorial polls in the state.
According to the state Commissioner of Police, Mr Tolani Alausa, the police had initially planned to deploy 27,000 personnel for the forthcoming governorship election, but considering the spate of insecurity, it had to increase the number to 40,000.
The Police Commissioner said along with the 40,000 men, other security agencies would be joining the police to provide security for citizens during the November 11 polls in the state, Naija News gathered.
Alausa gave this clarification to a group of women protestors led by the Head of the Department of Theater and Film Studies, University of Port Harcourt, Professor Faith Aminikpo, in the state on Tuesday.
During the peaceful protest in Yenagoa, the state capital, hundreds of women and youths, led by prominent community and civil society leaders, called for justice for the victims of previous election-related violence in the state.
Participants held banners and placards with different inscriptions such as ‘peaceful elections for Bayelsa,’ ‘Justice for the victims,’ among others.
The women on Tuesday protested the spate of electoral violence in the state, as preparations are ongoing ahead of the November polls.
In response, the Bayelsa police boss said, “As a leading agency in the security architecture, The police are taking cognisance of your theme, ‘Never Again’, because it’s apt for this purpose. All the political class needs is to play by the rules of the game; never again shall we have people murdered because of an election. In the last election, not only civilians were killed, but some police officers were also killed.
“We are going to do everything within our constitutional rights to ensure that we defend the right of every Bayelsan to go out there and cast his/her vote without harassment and molestation.
“Good enough, we are in an off-cycle election, where we are going to have enough security around the state. Like I said before now, we were going to deploy 27,000 policemen, but it has increased to about 40,000 men, including other sister security personnel, to ensure that people go out and vote.”