RESIDENTS OF ANAMBRA ASSURED OF PEACEFUL NOV. 18 GUBER …

Security Agencies in Anambra State say the November eighteenth governorship election in the area must hold as scheduled.The Commandant, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps in the State, Mr John Ahwen made this known while briefing newsmen in Awka on the achievements of the command in the last six months.

Mr Ahwen emphasized that any call from any group for a boycott of the scheduled election would not be tolerated in the state. He insisted that only the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, had the legal right to decide whether a scheduled election would hold or not.

The Commandant, said the security agencies would use the powers bestowed on them by the constitution to ensure peace and participation of people of the state during the election. He therefore called on the people of the state to come out en masse to participate in the scheduled election.

According to him, joint patrol of all the security agencies in the state is one of the measures adopted to ensure peace and hitch-free election in the area.

On the achievement of the command in the last six months, Mr Ahwen explained that the incident of armed robbery, kidnapping, rape and other criminal activities had been drastically reduced to the barest minimum in the state, due to participation of the officers and men of the command in joint patrol with other sister agencies.

He said the command had seven impending cases at the Federal High Court, Awka, inherited eleven cases and secured one conviction. Mr Ahwen who assumed the leadership of the command in December last year, appealed to the people of the state to collaborate with the corps in ensuring adequate security in the area by providing  intelligence information to the corps.

KEVIN EKEDIEGWU