INEC recovers voter cards found in Bayelsa forest

Independent National Electoral Commission has received 320 Permanent Voter Cards (PVCs) found in a forest in Bayelsa State.

Receiving the cards on behalf of the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, the Administrative Secretary of the commission, Okon Umobong, thanked NHFSS for returning them to the commission.

Umobong said he would hand over the cards to the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. Alex Hart, stating that the commission would investigate the circumstances that led to the cards being found in a forest.

Handing over the cards to Umobong, the Bayelsa Commandant of NHFSS, Moses Okanu, said the cards were found in an uncompleted building in a forest along Elebele-AIT Road.

Okanu narrated that the hoodlums, on sighting the men of his command on routine operation combing the bushes, took to their heels and abandoned the cards.

He said: “We have been combing the bushes because of reports we received. We started from Azikoro and went through Elebele.

“In the course of our going round, we saw an uncompleted building in the bush and we heard some noise, the suspects saw us and jumped out through the windows of the uncompleted building.

“We were able to penetrate into the building and what we saw were abandoned voter cards. Knowing that there are Federal Government property and that the only authority empowered by law to keep custody of these items is INEC, we recovered them and decided to bring them to the Commission.”