The Presidential election and the National Assembly elections held on Saturday left on its trail blood, 20 Nigerians were reportedly killed in various parts of Nigeria as a result of violence and ballot snatching.
VIOLENCE: The army confirmed six in Rivers State alone. Three of the victims died at different polling units at Okota, a suburb of Lagos, and three in Sapele, Delta State, two each in Bayelsa and Kogi States while one each was killed in Oyo and Zamfara States.
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The remaining two died on Friday during a clash between supporters of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in Ebonyi State.
Sequel to the violence, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has decided to hold fresh elections in some parts of Lagos, Rivers and Anambra States.
He said: “The commission has received reports of violence and ballot box snatching in some areas leading to the disruption of the process. We have asked the Resident Electoral Commissioners RECs and the Electoral Officials on the ground to submit their firsthand reports in relation to some of these incidents. We are still receiving reports relating to incidences in some states of the federation but we have received reports relating to incidences in Akuku Toru and Bonny local government areas of Rivers state.
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“So long as the commission could not deploy in these areas, the implication is that voting did not take place in those areas and the commission will hold consultations with the relevant authorities and the Resident Electoral Commissioners (RECs) in relation to these areas and will announce the date when polls will take place in some of these areas, especially in relation to the areas as they affect the House of Representatives and Senatorial elections.
“It is not only in Rivers that we had reports of burning of electoral materials. We have such reports from Anambra and Lagos States as well as some other places.”
The victims in Rivers State included two brothers and a soldier.
Sources identified one of the victims in Lagos simply as Peter. He was said to be a barber and was allegedly shot and stabbed to death at Powerline, Canal Estate in Okota by thugs who stormed the polling station in an attempt to disrupt the electoral process.
Another was identified as Demola, a leader of the Oodua People’s Congress (OPC) in the area who was lynched by a mob for allegedly denying them a right to vote.
The identity of the third man could not be immediately established, but he was stabbed to death at Last Bus Stop, Ago Okota.
They blamed the police and soldiers for not acting on reports about the activities of the alleged hoodlums.
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An eye witness said: “Those guys were armed with guns and cutlass. We had policemen and soldiers here and I personally told them that those guys seated under the umbrella there were thugs and not voters in this area.
“We told them to do their job by chasing them away or arresting them but surprisingly, the security people left. They only left one police van here and the policemen inside had just stick.
“As soon as those policemen and soldiers left, these boys started scattering everywhere. They destroyed the ballot boxes but we were able to secure the presidential ballot box because we had voted.
“They killed one barber and injured many people here. We called the police and soldiers for reinforcement. The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) officials ran away for their lives. Soldiers later came to rescue them.
“But why we are angry now is that the INEC doesn’t want to continue our election. They said they will not count our votes here and we have refused. There are police and soldiers here, so, let them count the votes of our presidential election. At least, they could not scatter that.”
Some of the hoodlums also stormed polling unit 023, Ago Palace Way, and set fire to thumb printed ballot papers.
However, the voters fought back and the thugs fled on a motorcycle.
The suspect was beaten and later handed over to the police. Ten others were arrested also at Okota.
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The police arrested nine other suspected thugs at Somolu, Lagos for allegedly molesting voters with charms, six in Epe, three at Ajao Estate, Lagos.
Soldiers arrested two persons at Aguda, Surulere, Lagos.
One of the suspects Yusuf, said a politician asked him to come to a polling unit for an unknown reason.
Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) David Folawiyo and Police Commissioner Zubairu Muazu went round the city to monitor the security situation.
Leader of OPC in Okota, Prince Osipote, denied the thugs who disrupted elections in the area. He said they were not members of the OPC.
Addressing reporters after a meeting with his men, Muazu said a total of 23 persons were arrested in the state for attempts to disrupt the elections which he described as generally peaceful in the state.
He said:
“We went round several polling units and it was generally peaceful. We had a few cases of disruption of the election process. The most important was the one at Okota where few polling units were attacked.
“Some hoodlums went there when election was ongoing and disrupted the process. We heard the rumour that people were killed but we went there and we did not see any corpse. The DPO did not see anyone that was killed.
“In Okota, nine suspects were arrested. They came on motorcycles and 10 of these were recovered. Okota is a very large area and we cannot deploy armed policemen to polling units. The armed policemen were far off. That was why the hoodlums were able to strike and fled before armed policemen could get there.
“It is indeed a breach of the restriction order. I wonder where they came from but the case is under investigation and we will find out where they came from.
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Three killed, two injured in Sapele shooting
Unknown gunmen were blamed for the killings in Sapele.
Sources said the hoodlums swooped on voters as they queued to exercise their franchise at Amukpe area of Sapele and unexpectedly opened fire.
Two other persons hit by bullets are now receiving treatment in the hospital.
The motive of the gunmen could not be immediately established.
A resident of the area said:
“I’m not sure they carted election materials away, but I saw that the ground of the place was littered with electoral materials, giving me the impression that they only scattered the materials.”
Police Commissioner Adeleke Adeyinka said he was yet to be briefed on the incident.
But a security source said: “immediately we heard of the situation, we moved in to take over the area so as to stabilize it and prevent a further escalation of the situation.”
APC chieftain, brother soldier killed in Rivers
Unknown gunmen also shot to death, a chieftain of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Rivers State, Chief Mowan Owo-Ete, and his brother.
They were killed in the politician’s residence at Asarama, Andoni Local Government Area at about 9am.
Owo-Ete, a former Vice-Chairman of PDP and ex-Special Adviser to Governor Nyesom Wike on Political Matters, defected to the APC last October.
The gunmen were said to have scaled the fence of the house and rained bullets on them at close range.
It was learnt that Owo-Ete had narrowly escaped assassination shortly before the February 16 elections were postponed.
It was also gathered that a soldier was killed in Abonema
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Rivers Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Nnamdi Omoni, a Deputy Superintendent of Police (DSP), confirmed through the telephone, the death of the top politician and his elder brother, stressing that personnel of the command were on the trail of the killers, while expressing optimism that they would soon be arrested and prosecuted, to serve as a deterrent to other criminals.
There were also sporadic gunshots in Ubima, Ikwerre LGA of Rivers, hometown Transportation Minister Rotimi Amaechi; Okrika, the hometown of former First Lady, Dame Patience Jonathan; and Bonny Island making it impossible for the Electoral Officer of INEC in LGA, Eze Ukachukwu, to distribute voting materials.
It was gathered that the heavy shootings in Abonnema started on Friday night and continued till yesterday morning, with the intention of scaring INEC officials.
Information Commissioner Emma Okah, claimed that 15 PDP members were shot dead by soldiers in Abonnema.
But the General Officer Commanding (GOC) 6 Division of Nigerian Army, Port Harcourt, Rivers State, Maj.-Gen. Jamil Sarham, dismissed Okah’s claim as a lie.
Maj.-Gen. Sarham, speaking through the division’s Deputy Director, Army Public Relations, Col. Aminu Iliyasu, said:
“Policemen were unable to contain the situation in Abonnema, leading to the deployment of soldiers. Voting could also not start at 2 p.m. in Bonny LGA. The elections in Akuku-Toru and Bonny LGAs will be rescheduled for a later date.”
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Wike hailed INEC for the prompt distribution of electoral materials across Rivers State in yesterday’s elections.
Rivers governor, who was accompanied to the voting unit by his wife, Justice Eberechi Suzzette, spoke with reporters shortly after voting at his Ward 9, Unit 7, Obio/Akpor LGA of the state at 12 noon, however, blamed the military for the challenges experienced in some parts of the state.
The Nigerian Army last night confirmed that six people were killed by troops in Abonnema, Akuku Toru local government area of Rivers State.
Two killed in Kogi East
Thugs killed two persons in Anyigba, Dekina local government of Kogi State while attempting to disrupt voting in the area.
The victims lost their lives at the Ajetachi polling unit when thugs stormed the area.
They were said to have been shooting indiscriminately, killing the victims one of whom was a nineteen-year-old boy, simply identified as Usman.
A woman who was on the queue to cast her ballot was seriously injured.
At Agbeji, thugs who invaded two polling units tried to force the Presiding Officers (PO) to sign completed result sheets.
The POs however refused, and took to their heels, resulting in the disruption of the exercise.
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