Like it was the case during the governorship and state assembly election, the rerun election in Ajaokuta, Dekina and Igalamela/Odolu areas in Kogi State was marred with violence. Weekly Trust spotlight the crisis which cost a life and puts many in hospitals.
The April 25 state assembly re-run election in Kogi State started on a peaceful note in Ajaokuta, DekinaI and II, Igalamela/Odolu and LokojaII constituencies where April 11 polls were declared inconclusive by the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).
But the peace witnessed during the accreditation of voters was shattered in Ajaokuta local government area after voting started as many people sustained various degrees of injuries in the violence that broke out, but there was no report of death.
However, in Anyigba, Dekina local government area, one person was reportedly killed, while several others sustained injuries.
Weekly Trust learnt that the crisis in Anyigba was triggered by the non-availability of ballot papers and result sheets at the polling units for voting to commence as scheduled.
The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Hussain Halilu Pai, while monitoring the election at about 12:30 pm in Ajaokuta, commended the people for their peaceful conduct during accreditation and urged them to continue the orderliness during voting. The REC had inquired from the NYSC members handling the process whether the election materials were intact and they assured him that everything was okay before he proceeded to the local government INEC office.
Barely five minutes after the REC got to the INEC office, a vehicle with the NYSC members and electoral materials escorted by the police also arrived. And it dawned on the REC, journalists and other INEC officials at the office that something was wrong. A few minutes later, angry youths besieged the office shouting “election must hold” and threatening to burn down the commission’s local government office if materials were not released for the polls. The youths alleged that some electoral materials were diverted to the homes of some People’s Democratic Party (PDP) stalwarts in the area.
As the atmosphere became charged, the police and the REC appealed to the youths to exercise restraint as the commission said it would investigate the allegation and address the matter amicably.
One of the protesting youths, Balogun Yahaya, told Weekly Trust that said trouble started when the INEC officials told voters that there were no ballot papers for them to exercise their franchise but that this information was contrary to what was confirmed to the REC by the NYSC members earlier.
Yahaya alleged that the election materials were given to the PDP by the electoral officers, who came to the polling units, pretending there were election materials with them.
“When the REC visited the Ongbo 003 polling unit, the INEC officials told him that the materials were intact but after he had left for voting to commence, they said there were no ballot papers. As we were trying to iron that out, some hoodlums started throwing stones at the polling unit and in the process, the electoral officers ran with the election materials to INEC office,” he said.
As negotiation was on-going, the youths forced themselves into the office where the corps members were taking refuge and assaulted them before the police came to their rescue.
The youths accused the corps members of selling the ballot papers to the PDP and as the issue was degenerating, the PDP agent apparently sensing what was in the offing, sneaked out of the venue without the knowledge of the youths.
The issue finally snowballed into violence when a chieftain of the PDP came to the INEC office to mediate in the matter. On sighting him, the youths went berserk and began throwing stones and other objects they could lay their hands on at him. He managed to get into the INEC office but that seems to have angered the youths more as they literally went on the rampage, destroying everything around.The police tried to disperse them by firing teargas but this rather aggravated the problem as youths mobilised with machetes and other weapons.
Some Journalists who were on election duty were saved by one of the youths, who was a classmate of one of the reporters. However, others were not as lucky as they were held hostage by the mob along with the REC, INEC staff and NYSC members on election duty. They were later rescued by the military deployed to quell the riot.
However, before the military arrived, several people were injured in the melee while some vehicles, including a Jeep, were burnt even as others had their windscreens smashed.
Also in Anyigba, it was a free-for-all fight between supporters of the PDP and APC. Unlike the Ajaokuta fracas, gunshots rented the air as the crisis degenerated. In the ensuing pandemonium, a 32-year-old man whose identity is yet to be made public, was killed while several others sustained injuries.
A source who craved anonymity said in the morning of the election day, supporters of both the PDP and APC were parading the area on Okada firing sporadically into the air and that a stray bullet hit the deceased, who was resting at the balcony of his house.
As the election was going on, vehicles belonging to state government officials had their plate numbers removed for security reason, while those who could avoid the town did so to avoid being caught in the cross-fire.
In Igalamela/Odolu local government area, where the re-run was also held, the story was not different as hoodlums also assaulted people.
The Kogi State, chairman of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Comrade Ali Atabor, was one of the victims as he was attacked by some people suspected to be political thugs during the re -run state assembly election.
Atabor while narrating his ordeal said he was monitoring the re-run election in that axis when the hoodlums attacked him even after identifying himself as the state NUJ chairman. He alleged that policemen looked the other way while the hoodlums went on the rampage.
Kogi State police spokesman, Mr.Collins Adebayo, said three people were arrested during the violence that marred the rescheduled re-run election in Ajaokuta state constituency.
