47 ‘Security Operatives’ Storm Bauchi Polling Units — Only Qualification Was a Cutlass

Bauchi State Police have arrested 47 people who allegedly disguised themselves as state-recognized security operatives at polling units during bye-elections on September 19, 2026.

The suspects — picked up in Disina State Constituency (Shira LGA) and Sakwa State Constituency (Zaki LGA) — were reportedly caught carrying firearms, cutlasses and sticks they had no business holding, let alone near a voting center.

Police Commissioner Sani-Omolori Aliyu said only agencies recognized under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) are authorized to provide election security, and the command had already warned that quasi-security outfits, private guards and vigilante groups had no role to play. He described the impersonation as “an attempt to undermine the electoral process.”

The recovered weapons are being held as exhibits, and the suspects have been handed to the State Criminal Investigation Department for prosecution.

Cosplay is fun until you’re doing it with a cutlass at a polling unit. Bold strategy, gentlemen — didn’t work.

Source: Vanguard News.