Police assure Nigerians of safety as suspected terrorists reportedly threaten to attack Abuja

The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) says security measures have been put in place to neutralise all possible threats to the peaceful conduct of the general elections

– The spokesperson for the police, Frank Mba, urges Nigerians to go about their legitimate business without fear of being molested by any individual or groups

– The police assurance to Nigerians follows reported threats by terrorists to attack Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), before the general elections

The Nigeria Police Force (NPF) has assured Nigerians of its readiness to tackle any security threat during and after the coming general election in the country.

The spokesperson for the police, Frank Mba, in an interview with Daily Sun, said the police have taken security measures to neutralise all possible threats to the peaceful conduct of the elections.

He urged Nigerians to go about their legitimate business without fear of being molested by any individual or groups.

“The general election is a major security task ahead of the force. The IGP, Mohammed Adamu, expressly acknowledged this in his maiden speech to the nation. Our task in this regard is to ensure peaceful, crisis-free and violence-free elections, before, during and post-elections,” Mba said.

“We are absolutely committed to this mission. Consequently, adequate security measures have been put in place to identify, isolate and neutralise all possible secuity threats to the peaceful conduct of the elections.”

The police gave the assurance in reaction to rumours of a plan by the Boko Haram group to attack Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), before the elections.

A message on social media warned Abuja residents to avoid crowded places like political gatherings, shopping malls, markets, hotels and schools, among others.

“Dear Abuja residents, information just procured revealed that Boko Haram have been promising to attack Abuja before 2019 elections. Boko Haram, now West African ISIS, released a new video promising to attack Abuja before 2019 elections; the new Boko Haram leader Al Barnawi said this in a new video released by the group, the message read in part.

Meanwhile, as the 2019 general elections draw nearer, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INE) has assured Nigerians that it will not postpone elections in some communities in the northeast which have come under attacks of Boko Haram.

Punch reports that the electoral body said the Nigerian Air Force (NAF) was instrumental in its successful voter registration through airlift of INEC personnel to difficult terrains containing landmines in Borno state during the registration.

TrackNews gathers that INEC said if NAF had not rendered assistance during voter registration, many qualified voters in those areas would have been disenfranchised.