Any police officer that aligns with any politician or political party during the legislative re-run elections in Rivers State will be severely dealt with, the leadership of the force warned on Friday.

The warning was issued by the Inspector General of Police (IGP), Mr Ibrahim Idris, during a meeting with police officers ahead of the December 10 re-run election.

At the meeting held at the Civic Centre in Port Harcourt, the capital of Rivers State, the IGP warned that the officers must take their jobs seriously and act in a responsible manner in the discharge of their duties during the election.

This warning is coming as officers and men of the police and other security agencies are getting set to be deployed to various stations for the legislative re-run elections in Rivers State. The deployment exercise has been going on for the past three days.

To put finishing touches on security for the polls, Mr Idris held the meeting to give instructions to the officers.

He says the officers must keep a close eye on what happens around the polling units.

He had earlier asked police officers to focus their attention on security of lives and property during the election and not show any partisan tendencies.

Few days ago, the Chief Security Officer to the Governor of the State, Mr Nyesom Wike, was redeployed for open affiliation with the opposition party in the state, the All Progressives congress, a behaviour the police said was against the ethics of the force.

At least 28,000 officers, all departments, including marine and air control outfits have been deployed in the state to provide security for the polls.