Beyond The Ballot: IGP Disu’s Non-Kinetic Push To Keep Osun Election Violence-Free

As Nigeria prepares for the August 15, 2026, Osun State governorship election, the Inspector-General of Police, IGP Olatunji Rilwan Disu, is taking the fight against electoral violence beyond conventional policing.

From increased deployment and intelligence gathering to community engagement and youth mobilisation, the IGP’s strategy reflects a deliberate understanding that securing an election is not only about putting more police officers on the streets. It is also about preventing violence before it begins.

On August 8, 2026, that philosophy took a highly visible form in Osun State as the Police Campaign Against Cultism and Other Vices (POCACOV), in partnership with the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS), led students and other stakeholders in a Walk Against Electoral Violence.

The initiative represents an important dimension of the Inspector-General’s broader strategy of deploying non-kinetic approaches to crime prevention and election security, particularly at a time when young people can be vulnerable to political manipulation but also remain one of the country’s greatest forces for peace.

The Nigeria Police Force has already commenced extensive preparations for the election, with thousands of personnel expected to be deployed across the state. IGP Disu has announced that at least four police officers will be stationed at each polling unit. With more than 3,000 polling units across the state, the deployment is aimed at protecting voters, electoral personnel and election materials, while preventing acts of violence and intimidation.

But the Inspector-General’s approach does not end with deployment.

During a strategic engagement with civil society organisations at Force Headquarters in Abuja, the IGP assured stakeholders of the commitment of the Nigeria Police Force to providing a secure, peaceful and credible environment before, during and after the election.

He also raised concerns about attempts by political actors to ascertain the locations and postings of senior police officers, while drawing attention to the challenge of cultism in Osun State and the possibility of existing animosities being exploited to fuel electoral violence.

It is against this background that the Walk Against Electoral Violence assumes greater significance.

Rather than waiting for violence to erupt and responding afterwards, POCACOV and NANS took the message of peace directly to the streets. The walk brought together students from nine universities, polytechnics and colleges across South-West Nigeria, united around one message: elections should be won through the ballot, not through bloodshed.

The walk also demonstrated that election security is a collective responsibility. In addition to the police and students, the event was attended by representatives and members of the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), Nigerian Red Cross Society, National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) and some GYM Houses.

Leading the initiative were the Assistant Inspector-General of Police in charge of Zone 11, AIG Fasuba Akinyele Olabode; the Commissioner of Police, Osun State Command, CP Ibrahim Gotan; and the National Coordinator of POCACOV, SP Ikwen Orvenonne, with the support of Comrade Josiah Adeyemo, Regional Coordinator, South-West Zone D.

The sight of security personnel, students, youth organisations and humanitarian stakeholders walking together for peace offered a powerful reminder that policing is not only about arrest and enforcement. It is also about prevention, partnership and public participation.

For POCACOV, whose mandate includes combating cultism and other vices through prevention, sensitisation and community engagement, the initiative reflects its preventive policing philosophy. For the Nigeria Police Force under IGP Disu, it demonstrates an increasingly people-focused approach to securing elections.

A police officer who prevents a violent confrontation at a polling unit is doing his job. But a police force that engages communities before an election, identifies potential fault lines, mobilises young people, partners with civil society and works alongside sister agencies is attempting to prevent that confrontation from happening in the first place.

That is the essence of non-kinetic policing.

The deliberate approach of IGP Tunji Disu deserves recognition because it acknowledges a simple reality: security is not sustained by force alone. It is strengthened by trust, intelligence, dialogue, prevention and partnership.

The real victory on August 15 will not simply be the successful conduct of an election. It will be an election in which voters return home safely, political opponents accept the outcome peacefully, security personnel perform their duties professionally, and no Nigerian loses a loved one because of political rivalry.

With initiatives such as the Walk Against Electoral Violence, IGP Tunji Disu is demonstrating that protecting democracy begins long before the first ballot is cast.

From intelligence-led operations to youth engagement, from security deployment to community partnership, the message is clear: prevent the violence, protect the people and preserve the ballot.

OSUN MUST NOT BLEED FOR POLITICS.

Akindele Adegebo, ANIPR, ACIPM
Writes from Lagos State