Breaking: Fears as hoodlums set INEC office ablaze in Abia state
- Suspected hoodlums have attacked the INEC office in Abia state
- Unknown men had recently set ablaze the commission's office in Akwa Ibom state
- The commission, however, assured Nigerians that the expansion of polling units would continue unhindered
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A report by The Punch indicates that the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Ohafia local government area of Abia state has been set ablaze.
Source: Original
Legit.ng gathered that the incident happened on the night of Sunday, May 9, days after the commission’s office in Akwa Ibom was set ablaze by unknown men.
Joseph Iloh, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for the state, confirmed the incident when the commission met on Monday, May 10, to discuss a wide range of issues.
Nigerian Tribune also reports that a statement issued by the national commissioner and chairman, information and voter education committee, Festus Okoye, revealed that the attack was not the first the commission has suffered in the state in recent times.
The statement read:
“There are no casualties on the part of our staff on guard duty but the building was virtually destroyed. Apart from furniture items, all electoral materials and office equipment were destroyed. The matter has been reported to the police for investigation.
“It will be recalled that only last week, the Commission reported an attack on its office in Essien Udim local government Area of Akwa Ibom State and expressed anxiety about the impact of such attacks on electoral activities, including the ongoing expansion of voter access to Polling Units, resumption of the Continuous Voter Registration (CVR), pending bye-elections, end-of tenure elections and ultimately the 2023 general election."
He said the commission has reassured Nigerians that all activities in relation to the ongoing expansion of voter access to polling units and preparations for the resumption of CVR as well as all scheduled elections would proceed as planned.
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Meanwhile, Legit.ng had previously reported that less than four weeks to the conduct of the Ondo state governorship election in 2020, the office of the INEC in Akure gut fire.
It was reported that the INEC said through a statement on its Twitter page that the fire broke out on the evening of Thursday, September 10, at its Ondo state head office in Akure.
Source: Legit.ng
