Thugs disrupt elections in Kogi, abscond with election materials

Armed thugs, on Saturday, stormed some polling units in Dekina Local Government Area of Kogi State and made away with election materials, disrupting the ongoing elections in the state.

The INEC Electoral Officer of Dekina LGA, Silas Rindam, who confirmed the incident, described the incident as “callous and very unfortunate”.

“We got the news of the incident from our ad hoc staff who had to run away for their safety.

“The thugs did not only cart away our election materials at Anyigba but even here in Dekina town.

“From what I learned, seven polling units here in Dekina town have been affected out of total number of 352 polling units in the area,” Rindam said.

The incident was also confirmed by the Kogi State Police Public Relations Officer, SP Williams Ovye-Aya.

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Ovye-Aya, however, called for calm, saying security operatives were on top of the situation.

He wondered why such an ugly incident would happen when there were more than 7,000 police personnel deployed to the 3,508 polling units in the state.

Also speaking, the Security Adviser to Kogi Governor, Commodore Jerry Omodara (Retd), expressed sadness over the incident which he noted had disrupted the peaceful atmosphere being enjoyed in Kogi State.

Omodara said the state governor, Yahaya Bello, has ordered a manhunt for the perpetrators of the dastardly act to be arrested and brought to book.

“We have no place for such in Kogi. We shall go after them and ensure that they face the wrath of the law,” he said.

A reliable source further disclosed that several polling units in Anyigba and Dekina towns were mostly affected.

“The situation has sent fears into the electorate in the affected areas with no voting going on in the areas,” the source said.

The Star