By Chidi Nkwopara
OWERRI—Imo State Police Command has warned all its personnel and operatives from other security agencies who are not on duty to keep away from voting areas, saying monitoring teams had been mandated to arrest defaulters.

The Commissioner of Police, Mr. Aloysius Okorie, who read the riot act in a release he signed yesterday, also warned that political office holders and other individuals would not be allowed to go to voting areas or collation centres with police escorts and orderlies.

“Elaborate security arrangements have been put in place by the Command, alongside other security agencies, to ensure the protection and safety of the electorate, electoral officers and election materials in all the electoral wards in the state,” Okorie said.

The Imo police boss similarly disclosed that enough patrol teams would be deployed to all the major routes and those leading to the polling units and collation centres to prevent the infiltration of thugs from other areas.

“Thuggery and hooliganism will not be tolerated in any part of the state. Parents and guardians are therefore advised to ensure that their children and wards are not used under any guise to pursue unlawful course,” Okorie warned.