Get Guardian on Google• Police arrest suspect, avert clash between Obi, Tinubu’s supporters
• IGP threatens arrest, prosecution over campaign billboards destruction
Ahead of next year’s general elections, the United Nations has demanded violence-free polls, warning the Nigerian electorate against allowing the elections to become sources of violence and instability.
The UN Special Representative of the Secretary-General for West Africa and the Sahel, Leonardo Santos Simão, appealed during a courtesy visit to the management of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abuja on Wednesday.
He also urged Nigerians to see the election as a democratic process to promote peace, national cohesion and development. Simão emphasised that the UN recognised the enormous responsibility facing INEC, particularly amid the security challenges confronting Nigeria and other countries in the West African sub-region.
Announcing that the UN would maintain a presence during the electoral process to encourage positive conduct and support an atmosphere conducive to peaceful participation, he said: “We are here, pleased to give you moral support, that you are not alone in facing this mammoth task.”
Simão clarified that the UN would not participate as an election observer because it had no mandate to undertake election observation. He stressed, however, that the outcome of Nigeria’s 2027 elections would have implications beyond its borders, particularly for democratic stability, regional integration and peace in West Africa.
According to him, peaceful elections in Nigeria could encourage other countries in the region, while instability could have wider consequences.
THIS is as the presidential candidate of the Nigeria Democratic Congress (NDC), Peter Obi, condemned an attack on his convoy by suspected thugs in Calabar, Cross River State, yesterday, assuring supporters that political violence would not be allowed to undermine the 2027 general election. Obi spoke at a town hall meeting in Calabar hours after his convoy came under attack, with suspected assailants smashing the windscreens and side mirrors of some campaign buses.
A viral 30-second video of the incident showed some of the attackers, mostly dressed in black shirts, fez caps and face coverings, using machetes to damage vehicles in the convoy. Speaking at the town hall meeting,
Obi recounted how he witnessed the attack and said his security team advised him to take another route after the assailants allegedly armed themselves with machetes and other weapons.
The former Anambra State governor arrived in Calabar alongside his wife, Margaret, and his running mate, Rabiu Kwankwaso, for the town hall meeting. The incident is the latest reported security challenge involving Obi’s campaign, coming about two months after his convoy encountered a blockade and confrontation with youths in Benue State.
The Cross River State Police Command said it has arrested a 27-year-old man, Victor Edet Yellow Duke, in connection with the attack on Obi’s convoy. The incident occurred at about 2:20 p.m. at the Watt Market Roundabout as the convoy was returning from the palace of the Obong of Calabar to Metropolitan Hotel, the venue of the party’s presidential town hall meeting.
According to the police, a group of suspected hoodlums, reportedly armed with machetes and sticks, emerged from the Calabar Road and Clerks Alley axis and attacked vehicles in the convoy. The number of vehicles affected had not been ascertained.
Police personnel deployed in the area moved in swiftly to contain the situation. Their intervention, which included the use of tear gas, led to the arrest of the suspect, while the other attackers fled. The suspect was later taken to the State Police Headquarters by operatives of the Violent Crime Response Unit, VCRU, for what the command described as a discreet investigation, to prevent reprisals or a further breakdown of law and order. Normalcy has since returned to the area.
In a statement by its Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Sunday Eitokpah, the command said the Commissioner of Police, CP Ajo Geoffrey Ordue, has ordered a thorough investigation to identify and arrest other participants and establish the full circumstances of the incident.
Cautioning against presuming the suspect’s guilt, the police said: “The arrest of a suspect does not amount to a determination of guilt, as the suspect remains entitled to the presumption of innocence pending the conclusion of investigation and any subsequent judicial proceedings.”
The police said it successfully averted a potential clash between NDC supporters and those of the All Progressives Congress (APC) in Calabar in another development. The NDC supporters had gathered in front of the Metropolitan Hotel, venue of the NDC presidential town hall meeting, where Obi was expected.
The APC supporters were on a road walk towards the Governor’s Office when they encountered the NDC supporters, who had converged outside the hotel. The atmosphere suddenly became charged when the APC supporters eventually made a stop in front of the hotel, raising fears of a possible confrontation. However, police officers deployed to the venue to maintain peace and security in the area promptly intervened, engaged the two groups, and prevented the situation from degenerating.
MEANWHILE, the police have warned politicians, their supporters and political thugs against the destruction, defacement or unlawful removal of campaign posters, banners and billboards belonging to rival candidates ahead of the 2027 general elections.
The police said those involved in such acts would be arrested and prosecuted, warning that political differences or party loyalty did not give anyone the right to destroy another candidate’s property or prevent them from campaigning freely.
The Force Public Relations Officer, CSP Ani Iniedu, disclosed this in a statement issued on Wednesday, November 4, 2026, expressing concern over increasing incidents of deliberate destruction of political campaign materials across the country.
The police described the development as an act of political intolerance capable of undermining democratic participation and warned political thugs, hoodlums and other troublemakers to desist.
According to the statement, the destruction, defacement or unlawful removal of another candidate’s campaign materials may constitute malicious damage, a criminal offence under applicable laws, including Section 451 of the Criminal Code Act and Section 326 of the Penal Code Law, which addresses the offence of mischief.
The Force stressed that all political parties and candidates, regardless of their political affiliations or status, were entitled to equal protection under the law.
It said no individual or group had the authority to determine whose campaign materials should be displayed or destroyed.
The Inspector-General of Police, Olatunji Rilwan Disu, has consequently directed Commissioners of Police in the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory to take proactive measures to prevent such incidents, investigate reported cases and ensure the arrest and prosecution of those found culpable.
