Council Elections: Ballot box snatching, shooting mar poll

The inconclusive councillorship election in Ighuoro Ward 9, Ovia North East Local Government Area of Edo was marred by shooting and snatching of ballot boxes.



Reporters were also beaten by suspected Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) thugs at Okonwo.

The supporters of the PDP and the All Progressives Congress (APC) clashed and this scared voters away from the polling units.

The Nigerian Television Authority (NTA) crew, Edo Broadcasting Service reporters and Ehis Igbaugba of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) were not so lucky, as the suspected PDP thugs attacked them, leaving two of the reporters injured.

Security men were seen at the polling units visited at Abumere, Okonwo and Iguhoro, but there were no electoral officials, party agents and voters.

The electorate, who reported earlier for accreditation, were chased away by suspected PDP thugs, who snatched electoral materials and took them to an unknown destination.

An APC member, Mrs. Comfort Abudu, who spoke with reporters, alleged that PDP supporters were responsible for the shooting and snatching of electoral materials.

However, PDP youths, led by Richard Okonufua, barricaded Ekiadolor/Okowo Road, protesting an alleged confiscation of electoral materials by the APC.

The youth alleged that they barricaded the road to prevent APC members from coming out with the electoral materials after they must have thumb-printed them.

Okonofua said: “You can see that it is almost 1pm and we are yet to see any of the electoral officials. The APC members have taken them with the electoral materials to a place where they will carry out their fraudulent practice.”

The Commissioner for Oil and Gas, Mr. Orobosa Omo-Ojo, said it was regrettable that the PDP supporters were yet to key into the one-man-one vote philosophy of Governor Adams Oshiomhole.

The representative of Ovia North East Constituency 1 in the House of Assembly, Mr. Sunday Osazemwinde, praised the efforts of security agencies during the poll.

He said despite the plan to disrupt the election by the opposition party, it was successfully conducted.