Authorities in Nigeria have beefed up security nationwide ahead of the gubernatorial polls to be held on Tuesday in a bid to prevent the recurrence of violent riots that led over 200 people dead following the recent presidential elections.
“We cannot afford not to effectively monitor political activities and place actors under surveillance in order to checkmate some of them who are criminally minded and have resorted to the use of force to foment trouble and cause mayhem with their do or die attitude,” Ade Abolurin, the head of the country’s National Security and Civil Defence Corps, said.
Rioters protesting the victory of President Goodluck Jonathan had killed more than 200 people, according to a civil society group. They burnt churches, mosques and left hundreds injured and thousands displaced.
Jonathan is a Christian from the south while his rival former military dictator General Muhammadu Buhari is a Muslim from the north.