Osun Election: Police Deploy 14,692 Officers As Polling Unit Gets Four Officers
By Aliyu Oyewole
The Nigeria Police Force has announced the deployment of four police officers to each of the 3,673 polling units across Osun State ahead of the August 15 governorship election.
Inspector-General of Police, Tunji Disu, disclosed this on Friday during a meeting with civil society organisations working on elections at the Force Headquarters in Abuja.
With 3,673 polling units in the state, the deployment amounts to at least 14,692 police personnel across the polling units.
Disu warned politicians and other stakeholders against violence, thuggery, vote buying, voter intimidation and other electoral offences, stressing that the police would deal firmly with offenders irrespective of their political affiliation.
The IGP said the police had commenced early deployment of personnel to Osun and would coordinate with other security agencies, with the Nigeria Police Force serving as the lead agency for election security.
He disclosed that Commissioner of Police Samuel Erale Etaifo had been deployed to take charge of election security operations in Osun, while an Assistant Inspector-General of Police would provide senior operational oversight.
Another Commissioner of Police, Abayomi Shogunle, will coordinate operations from the central monitoring centre in Abuja.
According to Disu, the police will conduct visible deterrence operations, including a show of force, to discourage violence and other activities capable of disrupting the election.
He added that roadblocks and other movement-control measures would be introduced to restrict unauthorised movement on election day.
The IGP also said political actors would not be allowed to move around with police security aides or armed escorts on election day.
“We will be firm and impartial in dealing with electoral offences, vote buying, voter intimidation, ballot-box snatching and thuggery, irrespective of political affiliation,” Disu said.
The police boss further identified the proliferation of cult groups as a major security concern ahead of the election.
He said investigations had shown that some cult groups were being recruited by political actors, adding that arrests had already been made.
Disu said the police would sustain enforcement operations against cult groups and politically linked criminal networks.
The meeting with the CSOs also featured presentations on pre-election assessments and security threat analyses ahead of the Osun governorship poll.
The civil society coalition expressed concerns over rising political violence and the neutrality of security agencies.
According to the coalition, 13 of Osun State’s 30 local government areas have been classified as high-risk areas due to reported killings, attacks, political abductions, shootings and violence around local government secretariats.
The CSOs said their assessment recorded 34 fatalities across 44 incidents between June 2025 and June 2026.
Organisations represented at the meeting included the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Center (CISLAC), Centre for Journalism Innovation and Development (CJID), CLEEN Foundation, Kukah Centre, Kimpact Development Initiative, Nigerian Women Trust Fund, Partners West Africa, TAF Africa and Yiaga Africa.
The Osun State governorship election is scheduled to hold on Saturday, August 15, 2026.
