Chief of Army staff threating to deal with trouble makers during election

The Chief of Army Staff, Lt. Gen. Kenneth Minimah, has warned intending perpetrators of electoral violence to desist from doing so during the March 28 and April 11 elections.

Minimah said that the Army would not hesitate to deal decisively with anybody caught fomenting trouble during the elections.

The COAS said this while answering questions from journalists in Abuja on Wednesday.

He said that while he was optimistic that the elections would be held without crisis, he was also aware that some people were not disposed to the peaceful conduct of the elections.

He said, “I do not envisage any issue because this is just an election and it will come and go.

“Though we know that there are also elements within the political class that would not want a normal election process to come and be put behind us, I will appeal to politicians and their followers to keep the peace, maintain the peace and ensure a violence-free election.

“I will appeal to law abiding Nigerians to come out en mass to vote for candidates of their choice without any fear of intimidation, without fear for their safety; it is their right to vote.

“And whoever wants to invoke or provoke violence will meet organised violence waiting for him. Therefore, every Nigerian should go about the election as a normal process and vote and continue with the normal day engagement and whoever threatens violence would be dealt with.

“The elections should come and go peacefully. If you win, rule; if you lose the remedies are there for you to go to court. That is just my advice and appeal to all Nigerians.”

He said that no country in the world thought of violence as part of the process of an election and that the Nigerian situation could not be different.

The Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Sani Usman, also flayed comments in some quarters that the military was planning to take over control of governance in the event of the outbreak of election-related violence.

Usman said that those making the comments were unfair, given the record of the military as an institution that had shown demonstrable commitment to the support for democracy.