The Imo State Police Command has restricted its officers and men from travelling outside the state as part of the measures to ensure effective policing of the state during the forthcoming elections.
The Police Public Relations Officer in the command, Alhaji Isah Mohammed, a deputy superintendent of police, told Sunday Punch on Friday that the command had also decided not to honour any request for a pass from policemen to travel outside the state.
He stated that the commitment of the police to a successful conduct of the election explained the recent course attended by the officers of the command on combat and related matters at Gwoza in Borno State.
He said that the police had put its men on the red alert stressing that those behind the rumour that the elections will not hold in the country were only engaging in self-deceit.
Mohammed also said the police had sought and got the cooperation and support of other security agencies in the state in order to actualize the desire to have a hitch-free election in April.
He explained that the security agencies like the Army, Immigration, and the Customs were expected to assist the command with personnel, vehicles and other logistic that might be required by the police to actualise a violent-free election in the society.
The PPRO was, however, optimistic that with about 10,000 men, the police would be able to rise to the challenges of conducting elections in the country.
Investigations conducted by our correspondent revealed that the Commissioner of Police in charge of the Command, Mr. John Moronike, has also introduced certain security precautions in the command as the tension generated by the election gathers momentum in the state.
The authorities of the command had restricted the members of the public from using the expansive car park within the premises of the command making it mandatory in most cases for people to park their cars outside the headquarters.
Within the premises of the police headquarters, it is now mandatory for policemen in uniform to carry a tag with the bold inscription of personnel to differentiate between policemen working in the headquarters and those visiting.