Port Harcourt, the capital city of Rivers State is set to burst with sporting, social and business activities, as 4,200 athletes and 500 officials arrive for the 10th Biennial Police Games, which kick off today, the 3rd, lasting till 9th March, 2013. This year's events which are to be held in three separate sporting venues in the Garden City was announced on February 25th, 2013 by the Deputy Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Frank Mba at the Force Headquarters in Abuja, Nigeria.
Mr Mba who spoke on behalf of the Inspector-General of Police, IGP MD Abubakar, CFR, NPM, mni, said the 4,200 athletes are Police men and women drawn from the Police Commands and Formations across the country, to represent Zones 1- 12 Commands of the Nigeria Police Force and Force Headquarters.
The presence of these athletes he said, would add glamour to the social life of the people of Port Harcourt and its environs, whilst the Games lasted including impacting positively on the economic activities of the Oil State. CSP Mba said the athletes would be competing in 28 events, three of which he said are non-scoring and would be held at three venues - the Liberation Stadium which will also host both the Opening and Closing ceremonies, the new Adokiye Amesiemaka Stadium and the Agbani Derego Sports Complex; all in Port Harcourt, Rivers State.
According to DFPRO Mba the 25 scoring events to be competed for at the Games include athletics, football, badminton, boxing, chess, cycling, baseball, golf, handball, hockey, judo, karate, kick-boxing, swimming, scrabble, squash, table tennis, shooting, taekwondo, tennis, tug-of-war, volleyball, weightlifting, wrestling and wushu kunfu; whilst the remaining three events which are non-scoring include rugby, polo and dart.
Mba said officiating personnel 500 in number were drawn from various national and local Sporting Associations in the country and would act as umpires in their respective areas of specialization. He assured that the best of officiating would be on display as adequate arrangement he said had been made for the officials in terms of logistics, security and welfare, to ensure a successful outing. On the the issue of drugs and doping by athletes, Mr Mba said that the IGP had personally warned that very severe disciplinary action would be taken against any athlete found doping during the Games.
Mba said the Nigeria Police Force not only feel very strongly against doping by athletes, but frown seriously against all nefarious activities, as the apex law enforcement agency in Nigeria. Consequently, Mba said adequate arrangement had been put in place to subject athletes to necessary tests during the period of the Games.
Mba warned athletes to keep off drugs and all illicit performance enhancement substances, as they stood the risk of being dismissed from the Force, if caught. The 10th Biennial Police Games he said promised to showcase the best of sports and fun, as was meant to shift attention of officers and men, at least, during the period of the Games, away from their usual rigorous front line policing.