The Kogi State Police Command on Tuesday warned politicians in the state against violence.
The state Police Commissioner, Mr Paul Okafor, gave the warning in Lokoja during a workshop for leaders of political parties and other stakeholders.
He said that political parties must disband their armed groups and allow peace to reign in the state.
He urged candidates and the parties to play according to rules, expressing the readiness of the police to clamp down on perpetrators brigandage and violence.
Okafor also urged supporters of the various parties to stop using abusive and provocative languages in their campaigns.
He appealed to them to stop defacing one another’s posters and billboards.
The commissioner said that political parties should henceforth obtain permission and approval before holding any rallies in any part of the state.
Okafor said that the permission was necessary to enable the police to provide adequate security to cover such rallies.
The Director of Electoral Operations in the state office of the INEC, Mr Rasheed Gbadamosi, called for the support and cooperation of all political parties, candidates and other stakeholders toward success general elections.
The state Chairman of the Nigerian bar Association, Mr James Akubo, urged politicians to avoid desperation and refrain from killing or maiming.
The state Coordinator of the NYSC, Mrs Bolane Olabanji, appealed to politicians to see corps members who would participate in the elections as their children.
Olabanji urged that the corps members should not be compelled to engage in electoral malpractice.
In his remarks, the Executive Director of the Centre for Human Rights and Conflict Resolution, Mr Idris Miliki, urged the police to be civil in their conduct and utterances before and during the elections.
Representatives of Labour Party, Accord Party, KOWA Party, SDP, APC, PDP and other parties at the workshop, all spoke on the need for security agencies to be neutral and ensure peaceful conduct of the elections.
