The Inspector-General of Police, Ibrahim Idris, has deployed a special police team in the 36 states ahead of the 2019 general elections,
The team, it was learnt, consists of about 180 policemen drafted from police units such as the Monitoring Team, Intelligence Response Team, Anti-Bomb and other formations under the IG’s office.
Sources, who are privy to the deployment, disclosed that the detectives were sent to gather intelligence on violence-prone areas in each state ahead of the elections.
A senior officer, who led one of the groups, said that a five-man team headed by an officer not lower than the rank of Assistant Superintendent of Police was posted to each state.
The officer said, “The postings were done in November and it involves 180 detectives drawn from different units under the Office of the Inspector-General of Police.
“Five policemen were posted to each state for intelligence gathering ahead of the elections.
“They are in the states on surveillance and they are supposed to report directly to the IG. The purpose of the postings is to unravel any conduct likely to jeopardise peaceful elections and nip it in the bud.”
The officer stated that the detectives would also be on the ground during the elections, adding that they were being paid allowances on a monthly basis, starting from November.
Another source in the IG’s office confirmed the development.
He said a lecture was organised for the officers to brief them on their duties.
On the allowances, the source said each policeman in the team receives between N105,000 and N300,000 monthly.
He said, “The team comprise policemen from the rank of corporal to Chief Superintendent of Police. A corporal gets a monthly allowance of N105,000 while an Inspector is paid about N190,000.
“Officers from the rank of ASP gets between N230,000 and N300,000 each. Policemen in each group are given an operational vehicle to move around the state they were posted to.”
The Force Public Relations Officer, Jimoh Moshood, who confirmed the deployment, said it was aimed at preventing anything that could affect the smooth conduct of the elections, noting that it was not political.
He said, “We have deployment to carry out threat assessment to know the areas that are likely to have problems so that the police can address them before the elections.
“They are not there for witch-hunting or to arrest any political party member.
“The policemen were drafted from all the police formations, including the IRT, Monitoring unit, and anti-bomb squad. It is nothing new; before the election, you carry out threat assessment to know problematic areas.”
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