2019 polls: Police commission sets up monitoring team

The commission said the monitoring team was necessary in order to ensure that policemen were apolitical during the conduct of the elections. Commissioner in charge of South-South, Mr Austin Braimoh, told journalists after a meeting with the Rivers State Governor, Nyesom Wike, at the Government House in Port Harcourt on Thursday that the action was also aimed at addressing the negative contributions of the police to the electoral process. Also in attendance were the state Commissioner of Police, Usman Belel, and the representatives of the commissioners of police for Akwa Ibom and Delta states. The Police Service Commission is setting up a team that will monitor the conduct of policemen during the general elections. “We are mindful of the fact of that when there is any wrongdoing during any election, the police are usually blamed. “The new board has deemed it necessary to go round the zones and inform people that the commission will not stand by and watch as the elections are manipulated,” Braimoh added. He said the Nigeria Police contributed 80 per cent of the security personnel for the elections, hence the need for action to be taken. Braimoh explained that a 12-point guideline had been drawn up to regulate the conduct of policemen during the elections, adding that the guidelines had been circulated across the country. He said, “We want the public to hold policemen accountable during the general elections. Our men will go round to monitor the policemen, not the elections. “They will stay and watch the policemen on election duty to ensure that they work within the guidelines.” The Police Service Commission representative noted that the objective of the exercise was to ensure credible polls. He said the public would be provided with telephone numbers through which they could report the excesses of erring policemen to the appropriate authorities.]]>