ENOUGH IS ENOUGH, CP BOLANTA WARNS

By NBF News

•Bolanta
Oyo State Police Command has read the riot act to politicians in the state, warning that it would not condone any form of violence or electoral malpractices before, during and after the general elections coming up next month.

The state Commissioner of Police, Alhaji Baba Adisa Bolanta, who gave the warning at a meeting of stakeholders, involving the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), State Security Service (SSS), political leaders and representatives of political parties in the state in Ibadan, the state capital, stressed that it would no longer be business as usual for politicians fond of perpetrating mayhem as the command was ready to clamp down on them.

The police spoke against the backdrop of a spate of political violence and politically motivated murder in the pace setter state in the last one year. The worrisome trend had claimed the life of the former factional leader of the state council of the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW), Alhaji Lateef Salako (Eleweomo), who was killed on December 30, last year in a bloody brawl at the Peoples Democratic Party congress.

Also two persons were killed when supporters of the PDP and the Congress for Progressive Change (CPC) clashed in Iseyin a fortnight ago.

He observed that all eyes were on the state in the forthcoming elections because of the unique position it occupied in the politics of the South West and therefore, urged the politicians to play the game according to the rule. The police chief remarked that elections must not be approached in a do-or-die manner.

He warned politicians and political parties against using thugs as well as dangerous weapons as well as holding political rallies without police approval,.

He vowed that he would not hesitate to prefer murder charge against anybody found with weapons during electioneering. Adirector of INEC in the state, Mr. Emmanuel Agboola, advised the politicians to familiarize themselves with and abide by the provisions of the Electoral Act guiding the elections. 'I am aware every political party has a copy of the Electoral Act, so each party should play the game according to the provisions of the Act and the election will go accordingly,' he said.