POLITICIANS WANT TO DISRUPT ELECTORAL PROCESS – POLICE

The Nigeria Police on Wednesday said some politicians were planning to recruit youths as thugs to harm political opponents and disrupt the electoral process.

A statement in Abuja by the Force Public Relations Officer, Mr. Emmanuel Ojukwu, said intelligence had further revealed that the thugs were being armed with dangerous weapons to cause havoc and mischief in the build-up to the 2011 elections, the News Agency of Nigeria reports.

He said, 'It has come to the notice of the Inspector-General of Police, Mr. Hafiz Ringim, that some Nigerian politicians are concluding plans to recruit young and able-bodied citizens as thugs.' According to him, the intention of such politicians was to use the youths as 'disposable cannon-fodders and to employ them to cause havoc and mischief in the build-up to the 2011 elections.'

He added, 'The Nigeria Police Force hereby warns that both the employers of the thugs and the thugs themselves will face the full wrath of the law as Nigeria's democracy has no more room for mischief makers.

'The force advises youths that thuggery is not an alternative to gainful employment, and that they should think twice before mortgaging their future.'