2023: IGP Orders Distribution Of 1M Copies Of Election SOPs To Policemen

In preparation for the 2023 general elections, IGP Usman Baba, the inspector general of police, has directed that more than a million copies of a handbook titled “Revised Standard Operational Guidelines/Rules for Police Officers and Other Law Enforcement Agents on Election Security Duties” be distributed by the Nigeria Police Force.

The IGP’s foreword, rules on general conduct, duty parade, briefing/debriefing, dress and accouterment, managing political parties’ conventions/rallies, crowd control, use of force and lethal weapons, escorting and protecting election materials, the procedure of arrest, command, and control, and other salient electoral security rules are all included in the 36-page manual, according to the force’s spokesperson, CSP Olumuyiwa Adejobi.

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He said the strategic distribution covers the Force headquarters, zonal and state police commands, and formations and trickles down to Units of the Force and divisional police stations to ensure that every police officer will have a copy of the guidelines for ease of reference before the commencement of deployments.

Similarly, the IGP has ordered distribution to the presidency, the Ministry of Police Affairs, the Police Service Commission, the Military, and all other security agencies engaged alongside the Police in election security management based on their expected deployment for the elections.

The IGP reiterated his expectation that the Police and other security agents involved in election security management will find the handbook to be a valuable operational companion which could act as a standard in holding them accountable in the line of their electoral duties, as all hands must be on deck to actualize the mandate and commitment of the NPF to have free, fair and credible elections in Nigeria.