Police Bar Amotekun, CJTF, Hunters and Vigilante Groups from Osun Election Duty

ABUJA — With four days to go before Osun State elects a new governor, the Nigeria Police Force has formally shut the door on non-state security formations, directing that Amotekun, the Civilian Joint Task Force, hunters’ associations, community-based security groups and neighbourhood watch outfits play no role whatsoever in Saturday’s exercise.

The directive, issued through the Force’s spokesperson on behalf of Inspector-General of Police Olatunji Disu, spells out in blunt terms what these groups may not do: no escorting electoral materials, no guarding polling units, no mounting checkpoints, and no bearing arms anywhere near the election.

Election security, the Force made clear, belongs strictly to six named federal agencies.

Six agencies, one chain of command

According to the statement, only the Nigeria Police Force, the Department of State Services, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, the Nigeria Immigration Service, the Nigeria Correctional Service and the Federal Road Safety Corps are authorised to handle election security in Osun on Saturday.

ValidViewNetwork gathered that this joint deployment is expected to span all 30 Local Government Areas of the state, covering polling units, collation centres, electoral materials, officials, observers, journalists and voters alike.

Political parties, candidates and members of the public were separately warned against engaging, arming or deploying any outfit outside this list.

“Any member or sponsor of such unauthorised outfits will be arrested and dealt with according to the law,” the statement said, a line that leaves little room for the kind of informal local security arrangements some communities have leaned on in past elections.

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A warning aimed squarely at election-day misconduct

Checks by ValidViewNetwork show the directive goes further than simply naming who may carry a weapon. The Force explicitly flagged ballot snatching, voter intimidation, vote buying and clashes between rival supporters as offences it will not tolerate, adding that anyone involved, whether as a direct perpetrator or a sponsor working from behind the scenes, faces arrest and prosecution “irrespective of political affiliation or status.”

Firearms and other dangerous weapons remain barred around polling units and collation centres, except where lawfully carried by accredited personnel on election duty.

Findings show the ban also extends to hate speech and incitement, offences the statement lists alongside thuggery and obstruction of electoral officials as grounds for arrest, language that lands directly on top of the controversy still trailing Senator Francis Fadahunsi’s viral “kill” comment, which has kept Osun’s campaign season unusually tense in its final stretch.

Why the timing matters

The order arrives against a backdrop of mounting anxiety over Saturday’s vote. Groups like Amotekun, the South-West’s regional security outfit, and various community vigilante and hunter networks have in the past supplemented formal policing in rural and semi-urban parts of Osun, particularly around collation.

Removing them from the picture entirely places the full weight of Saturday’s security on the six federal agencies named in the directive, a test of both capacity and neutrality in a state where trust in institutions has been strained by weeks of pre-election rhetoric.

Institutional posture heading into Saturday

IGP Disu directed all commanders and personnel deployed for the election to operate professionally, impartially and firmly, “in line with the rule of law and respect for human rights.”

The Force also called on traditional rulers, religious leaders, civil society organisations, the media and accredited election observers to report suspicious persons or activities through established emergency channels rather than through informal or community-based enforcement.

As of this report, the Independent National Electoral Commission has not issued a separate statement responding directly to the security directive, though the Force reiterated its commitment to working with INEC, political parties and other stakeholders to guarantee a secure environment for eligible voters to exercise their franchise “without fear or intimidation.”