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By Joseph Erunke, ABUJA

AHEAD of the 2023 general elections, the National Association of Nigerian Students, NANS, and the National Association of Ogun State Students, NAOSS, have warned politicians against heating up the polity through unsavoury actions.

The student bodies gave the warning in a statement jointly signed by the Ogun State Chairman of NANS, Damilola Simeon Kehinde and the National President of NAOSS, Oluwagbemileke Ogunrombi.

The student organisations appealed to political leaders and their followers to play politics the political game with decorum.

While urging politicians not to see the forthcoming general elections “as a matter of do-or-die”, the student bodies

tasked politicians and their followers not to conduct themselves in a manner that may cause violence in the state.

The groups called on the police and other security agencies to arrest and prosecute any politician or individual found culpable of engaging in any act capable of breaching the peace of the state.

“The era of political violence is long gone in the state. We don’t want anybody under the guise of political campaigns to create a crisis in the state.

“Politicians and their followers must be mindful of the acts and utterances they make, especially in the media and public places so as not to set the stage on fire.

“We know that some politicians are hell-bent on disrupting the peace the good people of Ogun State have been enjoying by heating up the polity.

“It is totally unnecessary for political parties to engage themselves in a campaign of violence. We urge aspirants, political leaders, followers and the general public to be civil and peaceful in their activities.

“Campaigns should be issue-based and not there should not attack persons or institutions. We should imbibe the spirit of Omoluabi that the founding fathers of the State displayed during their era.

“We also want to place all the security agencies on alert as to the activities of politicians in the state. There should no sacred cow, anybody found culpable of inciting members of the public should be arrested and made to face the law.

“We also want to warm students not allow themselves to be used by politicians to cause trouble and disrupt the peace of the state.

“Our organisations are not known for violence and we shall not tolerate any politician or individual who wants to use students or youths of the state to disrupt the peace of the state. The entire students of the state will resist any attempt by anyone to destroy Ogun State,” the statement read.

Vanguard News Nigeria