NOV 11 GUBER POLL: YIAGA AFRICA IDENTIFIES 6 HIGH RISK SECURITY LGAs IN IMO, CALLS FOR TIGHT SECURITY

 REPORTER: CHINAZO ILECHUKWU

A civil society group, YIAGA Africa, wants security agencies involved in the conduct of the November 11 off-cycle election in Imo State to ensure the protection of voters’ rights during and after the poll.

The Director of Programmes in the organisation, Miss Cynthia Mbamalu, gave the charge during a Media-Civil Society parley held in Owerri, the Imo State capital.

She identified six local government areas with worrisome security concerns in the state, noting that the meeting was to discuss the pre-election environment and explore opportunities to promote a transparent process.

According to Miss Mbamalu, Oru East, Oru West, Orsu, Orlu, Okigwe and Ehime Mbano Local Government Areas are high risk places, which security agents need to deploy intelligence-driven policing to enable the electorate to exercise their franchise.

Miss Mbamalu said YIAGA Africa would deploy over three hundred observers across the 27 local government areas of the state to monitor the election as part of efforts to support democracy in the country.

She explained that the Group would deploy a technology-driven mechanism which has been proven to be effective in observing elections in countries across the world, adding that the trained personnel would monitor the entire process.

Miss Mbamalu stated that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had trained personnel that would work during the election but appealed to the commission to ensure that only those that went through the process would be engaged to conduct the exercise.

EDITED BY CHUKWUBUIKE MADU