By Monday Ijeh
The Police Command in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) has warned political parties and the electorate against hate speech and violence ahead of political parties’ campaign in the territory.
The Deputy Commissioner of Police (DCP) in charge of Operations in the FCT, Mr Isyaku Sharu, gave the warning on Thursday in Abuja during Show of Force Patrol in some parts of the territory.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that show of force patrol, led by the DCP, covers Karmo-Gwagwa-DeiDei and Gwarimpa axis of the territory.
Sharu said the patrol was in line with the directive of the Inspector-General of Police (I-G), Mr Olatunji Disu, to ensure that political campaigns were violent free across the country.
“As we are all aware, the Electoral Empire had already unveiled electioneering campaign as part of the activities for the 2027 general election.
“It is the directive of the I-G to all Commissioners of Police (CP) across the country to ensure safety and security of the entire process.
“We are all aware that election is a process beginning from the voter’s registration up to this critical moment because campaign is a critical moment before voting.
“At this critical moment, all stakeholders must join hands with security agencies to ensure the safety and security of the entire process,” he said.
The DCP said hate speech would not be tolerated by the command, adding that election was not a war.
According to him, nobody’s victory is worth the life of any human being, and we are making it very clear that you either abide by the rule of the game or be ready to face the law.
He said the command had trained its personnel to ensure compliance to code of conduct and rule of engagement for election duty.
Sharu urged politicians in the FCT to engage in issue-based campaign, adding that politicians who resort to violence and hate speech had nothing to offer.
According to him, if you have something to offer you can make it very clear to the voting populace instead of engaging in fighting, hate speech, and other things that can heat up the polity.
He said the choice of the areas covered during the patrol was because the areas had been identified as part of the flashpoints in the FCT.
“Every native settlement is a flashpoint and as you can see, the voting populace are seeing what we are doing. From here we will march to the town to further inform them.
“The Commissioner of Police is also going to call on all the chairmen of political parties in FCT to sign the peace accord because the one earlier signed was at the national level.
“We are going to arrange for the signing of peace accord in the FCT where all the chairmen of the political parties will come and sign like it was done at the national level,” he said.
The DCP said the show of force patrol would be carried out in all the six Area Councils of the FCT to enlighten the residents of the preparedness of the Nigeria Police Force for peaceful campaigns. (NAN)
Edited by Isaac Aregbesola