Anambra guber: CDD asks security personnel to respect human rights

The Centre for Democracy and Development (CDD) has called on security personnel deployed to Anambra to respect voters’ rights.

The Anambra governorship election is scheduled to hold on November 6.

Speaking at a media briefing on Thursday, the group expressed concern over the “anxiety” regarding the electoral process.

CDD also urged the police to conduct themselves properly and ensure that voters are not intimidated.

“The holding of an election which should ordinarily represent the celebration of a people’s democratic franchise, and an opportunity to determine the course of political events in their state has, for many, become an uncertain and anxiety-ridden affair,” the group said.

“We are also aware that the security agents have had an unfortunate record of heavy-handedness and have been used to intimidate voters and electoral officials in previous elections.

“Amid fulfilling their duty of protecting the democratic franchise, CDD, therefore, calls on security personnel to respect human rights and standard rules of engagement, while allowing INEC to conduct a credible poll and voters to exercise their franchise.

“Security agents should also ensure that INEC staff and infrastructure are secured. As always, the world will be watching and taking record.”

The group advised INEC to deploy officials early to polling stations, and also advised civic groups to intensify voter education and stakeholder engagement.

CDD also encouraged voters not to be intimidated by threats from “masked or identified actors”, but to come out and exercise their democratic franchise.