By Atlantic Post Staff | September 19, 2026
The Bauchi State Police Command has arrested 47 people allegedly posing as operatives of a state-owned security outfit after they were found armed with guns, cutlasses and sticks inside polling units during Saturday’s bye-election in Disina State Constituency, Shira Local Government Area.
The arrests were made by police personnel deployed for election duty on September 19, according to a statement issued by the command’s spokesman, SP Nafiu Habib. The police said the suspects were taken into custody and firearms and other dangerous weapons recovered from them.
The arrests have placed fresh attention on the enforcement of election-security rules in Disina, where the police had issued a specific warning two days before the poll against the deployment of unauthorised security groups.
The command said only statutorily recognised security agencies operating under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security, ICCES, were authorised to provide security during the bye-election. State-owned security outfits, quasi-security agencies, private security guards and vigilante groups were specifically excluded.
Arrests made despite prior warning
The police said its September 17 security directive had clearly spelt out the arrangement for the Disina and Sakwa State Constituency bye-elections.
“In the said release, the Command unequivocally stated that state-owned security outfits, quasi-security agencies, private security guards and vigilante groups are not allowed to participate in election security coverage,” the command said.
Despite that directive, the police said its officers encountered the 47 suspects inside polling units in Disina.
According to Habib, the suspects were allegedly claiming to belong to a state-owned security outfit and were found with firearms, cutlasses and sticks.
“The suspects were immediately taken into custody. The exhibits, including firearms and other dangerous weapons, were recovered from them,” the command said.
The police have not identified the state-owned outfit by name in the statements reviewed for this report. The command has also not publicly disclosed whether the men had been formally authorised by any state authority to operate in the constituency or how they came to be deployed around the polling units.
Those details are now central to the investigation because the police account raises two separate questions: whether the suspects were genuinely connected to a government-backed security organisation and, if so, who authorised their presence at polling units despite the election-security directive.
What the election rules said
The Bauchi command had announced a tightly controlled security arrangement before the poll.
Vehicular movement and commercial activities were restricted between 6am and 6pm in Disina and Sakwa, with exemptions for essential duties, INEC officials, election observers and emergency responders.
The police also barred security aides attached to VIPs, political officeholders and public officials from accompanying their principals to polling units or collation centres. Sirens and covered number plates were also prohibited during the election period.
Habib had further warned that anyone found with dangerous weapons or other incriminating items at polling units would be arrested and prosecuted.
The Electoral Act 2022 separately gives INEC responsibility for requesting the deployment of relevant security personnel for elections, in consultation with the appropriate security agencies.
Section 126 of the Act also prohibits the possession of an offensive weapon at a polling unit or within 300 metres of one on election day.
That provision is significant in the Bauchi case because the police allege that the suspects were carrying guns, cutlasses and sticks within polling-unit premises.
The final legal position, though, will depend on the evidence recovered, the identities and status of the suspects, and the outcome of the investigation and any subsequent prosecution.
Why Disina matters
The Disina election was one of two Bauchi State House of Assembly bye-elections held on September 19. The other was in Sakwa State Constituency in Zaki Local Government Area.
INEC had fixed the elections for the date and said Disina comprised five wards and 95 polling units. Sakwa has five wards and 100 polling units.
The Disina seat became vacant after its former occupant, Saleh Hodi, resigned to contest a local government chairmanship election, according to contemporaneous reporting on the electoral timetable. The Sakwa seat became vacant following the death of its former occupant, Wanzam Zaki, in June.
The scale of the Disina constituency also helps explain why the police had put considerable emphasis on deployment and coordination ahead of polling day.
The command said its security operation was being carried out alongside other agencies under ICCES. INEC has described ICCES as the mechanism through which the electoral commission and security, intelligence, law-enforcement and safety agencies coordinate election security. In 2026, INEC again stressed the need for stronger planning, intelligence gathering and inter-agency coordination as the country moves through a busy electoral calendar.
Police move suspects to SCID
Commissioner of Police Sani-Omolori Aliyu ordered that the suspects be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department in Bauchi for discreet investigation and prosecution in accordance with the law.
The commissioner described the incident as “this blatant disregard for lawful directives and attempt to undermine the electoral process”.
The wording reflects the police position. It does not, by itself, establish that the suspects intended to influence voters, disrupt voting or act on behalf of any political organisation.
Those questions remain matters for investigators to establish.
The police had earlier pledged that its personnel would remain professional and impartial during the bye-elections and said it was committed to providing a level playing field for political parties and candidates.
The command also warned that individuals or groups attempting to disrupt the electoral process or cause a breach of peace would face enforcement action and urged residents to report suspicious activity.
The unanswered questions
The immediate arrests may have prevented a potentially more complicated security situation at the affected polling units, but the investigation now carries a broader responsibility.
Authorities will need to establish who the 47 suspects were, which organisation they claimed to represent, who recruited or deployed them, where the recovered firearms came from, whether the weapons were lawfully held and whether any political actor or public official was connected to their presence at the polling units.
The police statement reviewed by Atlantic Post does not answer those questions.
It also does not state whether all 47 suspects were carrying firearms personally or whether some were allegedly carrying other weapons recovered at the scene.
Those distinctions matter. They could affect the offences eventually preferred against individual suspects and whether the case extends beyond the men arrested at the polling units.
For now, the established position is narrower: the Bauchi police say they arrested 47 alleged members of an unauthorised security group at Disina polling units, recovered weapons and transferred the suspects for investigation.
Any wider allegation about political sponsorship, electoral manipulation or organised interference would require evidence beyond the arrest itself.
The case now moves from election-day enforcement to criminal investigation, where the identities of the suspects, chain of command and origin of the weapons should become clearer.
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