The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Lagos State Command, on Friday, 17th March, 2023, reassures Lagosians, of its commitment towards ensuring peaceful and conducive atmosphere, devoid of electoral violence, crimes and criminalities that could lead to the break down of law and order during the upcoming 2023 Gubernatorial / House of Assembly elections, National Association of Online Security News Publishers, NAOSNP can reports.
The former deployment of three thousand six hundred and forty (3,640) officers and men for the recently, concluded Presidential / National Assembly elections held on the 25th February, 2023 remains sacrosanct and they have been fully mobilized for the next election.
The Corps’ personnel have also been deployed to jointly, work with the officers and men of the Nigeria Police Force and other sister agencies, at different strategic locations; such as the offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), collation centres various polling units, various locations and points across the state.
However, the Command will also not rest on its oars, in fulfilling its mandates on the protection of critical national assets and infrastructure such as; oil and gas pipelines, telecommunication, railway installations and power installations, buildings and offices, amidst many others belonging to the Federal, State and Local Governments before , during and after the elections.
The above tactical deployments of the Command, were being drawn, from various departments and units, such as; Operation, Intelligence and Investigation, Anti – Vandal, Armed Squad, CNAI, Chemical Biological Radiological Nuclear and Explosives (CBRNE) Unit, Area Commands and Divisions, Quick Intervention Squad (QIS), Special Female Squad (SFS), Agro – Rangers, Crisis and Disaster Management, Counter – Terrorism, Peace and Conflict Management and Anti – Human Trafficking and Illegal Migration Unit, ( ATHIMU ) et ce tera.
The NSCDC, Lagos State Commandant, Commandant of Corps Usman Ishaq Alfadarai, fdc, mnim, mpa, fisn, however, said, “in a bid to ensuring, free, fair, credible and peaceful conduct of the Gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections, scheduled to hold tomorrow, Saturday, 18th March, 2023, the Command has identified some lessons learnt from the previous election and has made efforts to improve on those grey areas for better performances and results.
CC Alfadarai also assured the general public of the Command’s readiness to ensure the smooth conduct of the election, through sensitization of the public, regular meetings with stakeholders, synergetic co – ordination, with the NPF, who is the lead agency, in election security and monitoring and other security agencies, who are members of the Interagency Consultative Committee on Election Security ( ICCES ), chaired by the INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner and co – chaired, by the Commissioner of Police in the state.
It is also worthy of note to inform the general public of the need to make good use of the channels of communication made available, through the joint control room comprising representatives of all security agencies saddled with the election security and monitoring.
Having summoned, the Area Commanders and Divisional Officers for a strategic meeting, on Wednesday, 15th March, 2023, meant to review the previous election, identifies grey areas and accesses the level of preparedness of field, operational and tactical commanders towards the forthcoming Gubernatorial and House of Assembly elections.
The State Commandant has also re – instituted special monitoring teams headed by Deputy Commandants of Corps to supervise different Senatorial Districts, Area Commands and Divisions as well as Patrol and Monitoring teams under the general supervision of the State Commandant before, during and after the elections.
However, citizens can also contact the Public Relations Unit and the Crisis and Disaster Management Department of the Command, through the formerly, provided mobile phone lines and social media handles of the Command.
We advise members of the public to call the following phone lines listed below, in case of distress or emergency; 08163597310, 08033961776, 08063101935.
“Finally, we want to seize this ample opportunity to call on all eligible voters to go about their electoral rights peacefully, without fear of intimidation and shun all forms of violence, during the exercise, while advising them to give peace and tranquility a chance as our dear Lagos State and Nigeria at large can not afford the cost of violence, Alfadarai said.”
