Mr Bala Hassan, the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 10, Sokoto, said on Thursday that 18, 000 security personnel had been mobilised for the general elections across Sokoto, Kebbi and Zamfara states.
Hassan told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Sokoto that the personnel comprised police, Department of State Services, civil defence, Nigeria Customs Service, immigration and prisons officers.
He said that already, an operational arrangement on how to handle security threats before, during and after the elections had been made.
He said that the police would not tolerate any act of thuggery as special anti- thuggery unit had been directed to arrest any person or group of people found wanting within the zone.
He said that some suspected political thugs had been arrested at Illela Local Government Area of Sokoto State with some dangerous weapons and would soon be arraigned.
He said that the police were ready for the conduct of the presidential election in a peaceful manner.
Hassan called for public support by reporting any suspecious characters to the nearest security units for prompt action.
