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| Hoodlums, yesterday, invaded three polling booths at Ago Palace Way in Lagos and successfully burnt all the ballot papers. A voter, Mr. Mbah, who witnessed the fracas |
Hoodlums, yesterday, invaded three polling booths at Ago Palace Way in Lagos and successfully burnt all the ballot papers. A voter, Mr. Mbah, who witnessed the fracas, said:
“We started voting around 10.00a.m. Some members of Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) came to intimidate voters, telling us we should vote APC or die and that anybody that refused to vote APC should go back to Nnewi or East, and wherever they came from.
“I told them they could not be more political than the President, who made it clear that everybody should come out and vote for any candidate of their choice.
“They threatened to kill. Some police officers later came and made some arrests. However, after a while, as the voting was going on, they went and re-grouped. I told the DPO in charge of the area that the people had returned, and she promised to contact the Rapid Response Squad.
“Before I could call her again, one man came and made a sign and before we knew what was happening, his boys appeared, got the entire ballot boxes and set them on fire. They crossed to the other side of the road, where two polling booths were located and did the same thing.
“ People were angry and started pursuing them. One of them was caught and his motorcycle was burnt.“We are not happy. We are disappointed. We are, therefore, calling on INEC to cancel these elections.“We must vote and our votes must be counted.”
One of the hoodlums, Yusuf Olaowo, alleged that the APC Chairman in Ajao Estate sent them to come and wait there.Security operatives, including soldiers and police later came to the scene.Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) David Folawiyo, calmed the voters with the promise that they would be given another opportunity and should, therefore, desist from causing any trouble.
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“We started voting around 10.00a.m. Some members of Oodua Peoples Congress (OPC) came to intimidate voters, telling us we should vote APC or die and that anybody that refused to vote APC should go back to Nnewi or East, and wherever they came from.
“I told them they could not be more political than the President, who made it clear that everybody should come out and vote for any candidate of their choice.
“They threatened to kill. Some police officers later came and made some arrests. However, after a while, as the voting was going on, they went and re-grouped. I told the DPO in charge of the area that the people had returned, and she promised to contact the Rapid Response Squad.
“Before I could call her again, one man came and made a sign and before we knew what was happening, his boys appeared, got the entire ballot boxes and set them on fire. They crossed to the other side of the road, where two polling booths were located and did the same thing.
“ People were angry and started pursuing them. One of them was caught and his motorcycle was burnt.“We are not happy. We are disappointed. We are, therefore, calling on INEC to cancel these elections.“We must vote and our votes must be counted.”
One of the hoodlums, Yusuf Olaowo, alleged that the APC Chairman in Ajao Estate sent them to come and wait there.Security operatives, including soldiers and police later came to the scene.Assistant Inspector General of Police (AIG) David Folawiyo, calmed the voters with the promise that they would be given another opportunity and should, therefore, desist from causing any trouble.
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