AD HOC staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), who were kidnapped during the March 18, 2023 House of Assembly election in Kogi State, are calling on the Federal Government to come to their aid, saying: “We are suffering.”

Accusing the electoral body of abandoning them, the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) members said they lost valuables and had been going through psychological trauma.

They claimed that INEC refused to attend to their matter since March, when the unfortunate incident happened, adding that their release was through the sole efforts of their parents, without any contribution from the electoral body.

Spokesperson of the group, Bose Oricha, told The Guardian that the electoral body in Kogi, instead of attending to their plight, advised them to engage the services of a lawyer to write to INEC headquarters over their case.

“When we visited INEC office in Lokoja, they told us to engage a lawyer to write through them to the headquarters. An administrative officer attended us to. The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) also said the same thing, when his view was sought on phone.

“They promised to assist us since we lost valuables, such as phones, jewelleries and other personal effects. They even promised to give us employment. None of these promises has been met.

“We are calling on the Federal Government to come to our aid, since the electoral body has abandoned us to our fate,” she pleaded. Efforts to speak to either the REC or the officer in charge of voter education proved abortive, as neither of them picked their calls nor responded to text messages to them.