17,500 Police Officer deployed to Rivers State for Local Government election.

The Nigerian Police Force has deployed 17, 500 police officers to rivers state to provide security for the upcoming election that is to take place on Saturday.

The Police Public Relations Officer in the state, Nnamdi Omoni, explained that the state police command would be supported by other security agencies.

He said that the Commissioner of Police in Rivers, Eboka Friday, who is also the Chairman of Inter-Agency Consultative Forum on Election Security for the poll, has barred highly placed individuals, including politicians from going to the polling stations with their security aides.

Omoni stated that there will be restrictions of movement on both land and waterways within the state from Friday midnight till after the election.  He also noted that the police would block all entry and exit points of the state.

He appealed to the people of the state to cooperate with the police who have a duty to provide a conducive environment for everyone to exercise their right to vote and be voted for in a free, fair, and transparent manner.

On Saturday, the people of Rivers would go to the 4,442 polling units across the 319 wards in the 23 local government areas to elect their chairmen and councilors for the next three years.