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Suspected thugs set Imo INEC headquarters on fire

By Charles Ogugbuaja, Owerri
10 March 2019   |   5:12 pm
Suspected thugs on Sunday afternoon set the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in Ngor Opkala Local Council of Imo State on fire. The Guardian gathered that the hoodlums had made consistent attempt to dispossess the officials of the commission electoral materials without success. Unknown gunmen in fake police uniform had on Saturday…

Suspected thugs on Sunday afternoon set the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), in Ngor Opkala Local Council of Imo State on fire.

The Guardian gathered that the hoodlums had made consistent attempt to dispossess the officials of the commission electoral materials without success.

Unknown gunmen in fake police uniform had on Saturday stormed a polling unit, shooting sporadically in the air which led to voters and officials of the commission to scamper for safety, creating leeway for the hoodlums to snatch away electoral materials, including result sheets and ballot papers to an unknown location.

As at the time of filing this report, authorities of the INEC in the state could not respond to the confirmation by The Guardian on the official INEC press corps WhatsApp platform, but sources at the scene said the thugs allegedly made their forceful entry to the razed down the office.

As at the time of filing this report, it was unclear the magnitude of materials and equipment lost.

The Guardian gathered that the Electoral Officer, collation officer and others have been recalled to the headquarters on Port Harcourt Road, Owerri capital city.

Earlier in the day, suspected hoodlums had attempted to set ablaze the INEC office Mbaitoli Local Government Area of the state. The council, according to sources, has about 144,000 registered voters, about the highest in the country, comparably.

Locals and security personnel promptly stopped the hoodlums, while changing the security architecture of the vicinity.

There have been incidences of pockets of snatching of electoral materials at different INEC collation centres even in the presence of security officials.

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