The Nigeria Police headquarters in Abuja has assured the public of adequate security before, during and after the upcoming general election in the country.

The police authorities said they have put security measures in place to identify, isolate and neutralise all possible security threats to the peaceful conduct of the elections, with a call on Nigerians to go about their legitimate business without fear of being molested by any individual or groups.

Force public relations officer, Frank Mba, gave the assurance in an interview with Daily Sun, in Abuja at the weekend.

The assurance is coming on the heels of a message being circulated on the social media over plans by the Boko Haram group to attack Abuja, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), before the elections.

The message warned residents to avoid crowded places like political gatherings, shopping malls, markets, hotels and schools, among others.

The message read, “Dear Abuja residents, information just procured revealed that Boko Haram have been promising to attack Abuja before 2019 elections. Boko Haram, now West African ISIS, released a new video promising to attack Abuja before 2019 elections; the new Boko Haram leader Al Barnawi said this in a new video released by the group.

“While speaking in Hausa. he said before the 2019 elections, his group would have an attack on the federal capital, the Nigerian Army cannot stop them from having their attack. You are strongly advised to take all the necessary precautions to ensure that crowded areas and political gathering are as much as possible avoided. You are further advised to monitor places like malls, markets, hotels, schools. We should also report any suspicious characters to the security agencies. Faith-based places should also bring this to the notice of all worshippers to be on alert at all times.”

Reacting, Mba said there was no cause for alarm ahead of the upcoming elections, even as he called on the public to continue to support the police and report any suspicious activities to the security agencies.

Mba, in a telephone interview with Daily Sun, said, “The general election is a major security task ahead of the force. The IGP, Mohammed Adamu, expressly acknowledged this in his maiden speech to the nation. Our task in this regard is to ensure peaceful, crisis-free and violence-free elections, before, during and post-elections. We are absolutely committed to this mission. Consequently, adequate security measures have been put in place to identify, isolate and neutralise all possible secuity threats to the peaceful conduct of the elections.

“Both the operational and intelligence units of the force have been mobilised for this crucial national assignment. Nigerians are, therefore, enjoined to continue to support the police in this regard and report any suspicious move to the relevant security agencies.”

•Sourced from a Daily Sun report

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