The Independent National Electoral Commission has identified 385 flashpoints and roughly 200 difficult terrains across Osun State as it prepares for the state’s upcoming governorship election, information Resident Electoral Commissioner Oluwatoyin Babalola says has already been shared with security agencies to guide their planning.
Babalola said the difficult terrain mapping is meant to help security agencies and election officials plan operations around communities that remain hard to reach because of poor road conditions, and that the commission has intensified preparedness through risk management training for its personnel, describing INEC as currently operating within what she called the amber zone of its own risk framework. Field officers will be deployed across the 13 participating local government areas to conduct on the ground risk assessments and monitor the security situation as the election approaches, she said, adding that staff are being equipped with the knowledge and composure needed to manage risk while carrying out their duties on election day. Babalola disclosed she has personally visited 29 of the state’s 30 local government areas, including Ila and Ifedayo, where kidnapping and other violent crime have raised security concerns, though she stopped short of calling the situation there banditry, describing it instead as a significant security challenge requiring close attention.
