180 youths suspected to belong to the All Progressive Congress (APC) from Osun State were arrested by the police with voter cards and dangerous weapons, apparently on their way to Saturday’s governorship election in Anambra State. But the APC in Osun State, on Friday, in Osogbo denied the report from the Anambra State police command that the youths were members of the party.
Thugs arrested with voter cards, INEC ID cards –Police
The Imo State police command has insisted that it arrested 180 persons in Owerri with “voter cards, INEC Identity Cards and Independent Observer Identity Cards.”
The Commissioner of Police in the state, Mohammed Katsina, said at a news briefing in Owerri on Thursday that two pump-action rifles, live ammunition, 15 buses and other incriminating materials were recovered from the arrested persons.
While displaying ammunition and identity cards seized from the youths, Katsina said the (arrested) persons, who came from Osun, were heading to Anambra ahead of Saturday’s governorship elections.
“They were arrested while waiting to link up with their contacts in Anambra. The suspects were on a mission to breach the peace in the state and (they) will be prosecuted. The security agents and the command have worked so hard to attain peace and will not allow any politician, no matter how highly placed, to compromise it,” he said.
Also speaking with reporters on phone on Friday, the Imo State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Joy Elemoko (DSP), said the suspects were arrested at Destiny Hotel Owerri, the state capital, through a tip-off.
“It was about 1:30pm yesterday that we got information that there were some strange people at Destiny Hotel, and we immediately dispatched our Operation Ambush squad to the place.
“On interrogation, they confessed that they were from Osun State, en-route to Anambra, and were in the hotel to plan their movement to Awka, where they have sealed a deal of election manipulation for one of the gubernatorial candidates in today’s election.
The police spokesperson listed some of the alleged fake electoral materials recovered from the suspects to include voter cards, INEC Election Observers Identity Cards, INEC stamps, logo of a particular political party, among others.
Though the PPRO refused to name the candidate who contracted those she described as fake INEC officers, Saturday Tribune gathered that the suspects were arrested with scores of brooms and All Progressive Congress (APC) logos.
Mrs. Elemoko said the suspects were still in the police custody, and that further investigations into the matter were ongoing.
APC reacts
A statement signed by the Osun State Director of Publicity, Research and Strategy of the APC, Kunle Oyatomi, contended that the young men arrested were members of the Justice and Equity Organisation, duly accredited by the Independent Electoral Commission (INEC) as observers in today’s governorship election in Anambra State.
Oyatomi said that what was found on the arrested young men were not voter cards but INEC’s identification tags as observers of the election; and that the exhibits displayed to reporters by the police showed only the ribbons holding the observers’ tags, and not voter cards.
He also described as untrue the allegation that Governor Rauf Aregbesola was funding the electioneering activities of the APC governorship candidate in the Anambra gubernatorial election, Dr. Chris Ngige, saying “It is important to find proof from the accusers. People hallucinating cannot just engage a serious-minded political party on trivial issues.”
He explained further: “The young men were not found with APC ID Cards. Imo police command was being mischievous by claiming that the youths were APC thugs on their way to disrupt the governorship election.
“Justice and Equity Organisation, in their own explanation, had said that it was their members who were arrested at the premises of Destiny Hotel, Km. 4 Owerri-Onitsha Road. They had chosen Owerri to train and brief (their) members on their assignment.
“The police stormed the hotel when they were distributing to members their election observation paraphernalia supplied by INEC. The police arrested and proceeded to parade them as ‘political thugs’.
“The claims by the police, therefore, that they were ‘APC youths’ is a calculated attempt to set up the APC, which was in no way, connected with the JEO, a civil society group that was on their way to Anambra to monitor the election.”
He said going by the release of this organisation on its website explaining why (its members) were in Owerri, and what happened with the police, it was clear that the APC had nothing to do with the incident, even if the people arrested were from Osun State.
The party, therefore, advised the Anambra police to be “careful and to guard against making incorrect statements and falsely accusing innocent people or groups of crimes they did not commit, all in police’s attempt either to be seen to be working or in flagrant abuse of authority to favour a particular political interest.”
Osun PDP, UPN react
Osun State chapter of the PDP and the Unity Party of Nigeria (UPN) have called on the Inspector-General of Police to ensure that “all the imported thugs arrested should be made to face the wrath of the law.”
The Osun State chapter of the UPN, in a statement by its Chairman, Mr Solomon Wale Alabi, alleged that the APC had also been “perfecting their rigging plans for the 2014 Osun State gubernatorial election,” and that one of the grand plans of the party to rig the election “is the phony free railway ride from Lagos to Osogbo.
“We, as a party, therefore, want to implore the federal government to halt this free railway services at least three months to the election. We also want INEC to take up the issue of indiscriminate circulation of ballot papers and voters’ cards prior to elections.”
Accusing the chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Professor Attahiru Jega, of having a hidden agenda by sending the Resident Electoral Commissioner in Osun State, Ambassador Oloruntoyin Akeju, whom it accused of being in an unwholesome alliance with the APC, to Anambra State, the Osun PDP called on its Anambra State counterpart and all well-meaning people in the state “to protect their votes from the APC intruders.”
The Osun PDP chairman, Alhaji Gani Olaoluwa, in a statement on Friday also said his party had always alerted security personnel and Nigerians to the plethora of atrocities being perpetrated in Osun State by the APC-controlled administration.
“The arrest is a vindication of the PDP and every well-meaning citizen of the state who have known these thugs and undemocratic elements parading themselves as progressives,” he said.
The party also called on the police chief to investigate the alleged movement of N1 billion from the coffers of Osun State to sponsor the governorship election in Anambra State, saying the money might have been deployed to foment trouble during and after the polls.
Olaoluwa accused the state government of being insensitive to the plight of the state by mobilising N1 billion allegedly from one of the loans it had obtained in the name of the state “to finance (APC)’s vainglorious expansionist agenda.”
The party also alleged that the APC had moved the mercenaries to Anambra State to rig the election, and that it got information that an Osun State Commissioner had also led some people disguised as election observers, to Anambra to hatch the “devilish plans of the APC” in today’s election.
Over 4,000 APC thugs deployed – PDP
The national headquarters of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) is insisting that the APC has already flooded Anambra State with over 4,000 thugs, and that the 180 youths arrested were just a fraction of those already sent to the state.
It, therefore, charged the police and the entire public to hold the opposition party responsible in the event of any breakdown of law and order during the poll.
In a statement signed by its National Publicity Secretary, Chief Olisa Metuh, on Friday, the PDP said the arrest of 180 heavily armed political thugs from APC-controlled Imo State ready to be deployed to Anambra, had exposed the APC’s plot to cause mayhem and unleash violence during the election.
Metuh said, “The entire nation received with shock the news of arrest by the police of 180 heavily armed thugs, sponsored by the APC and ready to be deployed from APC-controlled Imo State to Anambra, where they have been instructed to unleash mayhem and terror on the people and disrupt the election.
“While we commend the police for the arrest, we wish to alert the general public that those arrested represents only a very small fraction of the population of armed thugs prepared to be unleashed on Anambra State by the APC. The APC has armed over 4,000 of its members with dangerous weapons, set to be deployed from Imo State to Anambra with the express order to cause trouble and violence during the election.”
According to the party, “The plot is part of a grand design by APC leaders to disrupt and discredit the election since they discovered that the Anambra people have rejected their party.
Having failed in their efforts to blackmail and discredit other parties, especially the PDP and the Presidency, the APC has now resorted to violence, which is their stock-in-trade, to ensure that the election is disrupted.
Tight Security across Anambra
However, it was observed that security has been beefed up across Anambra State to forestall any breakdown of law and order in the state, during and after the election.
Although campaigns by various political parties ended on Thursday in line with INEC guidelines, the secretariat of the electoral body situated along the state House of Assembly road was a beehive of activities on Friday as scores of journalists struggled for accreditation.
At the state offices of APC, PDP, All Progressive Grand Alliance and the Labour Party, party officials were seen making last-minute strategies with a view to winning the election.
Aregbesola’s aide defends arrested youths
Also, a top aide of the Osun State governor, Mr Bola Ilori, defended the arrested youths, saying they were election observers.
Ilori, the Special Adviser to Governor Rauf Aregbesola on Environment, in a Facebook post declared that no APC member was found with voter cards or dangerous weapons, saying the youth were attending a pre-election briefing.
The Osun State governor’s aide, who claimed to have arrived Imo to verify the report that APC members were arrested, said “my findings here have shown that there is no known APC member amongst those arrested. (Those) arrested are INEC-accredited election monitors from Osun (State). The NGO chose to assemble their members for training in Owerri, Imo State, due to its proximity to Anambra and cheap hotel cost.
“I found out that the training they were having was in conformity with INEC regulations for election monitors. NGO leaders are trained by INEC and mandated to train their functionaries before deployment. In fact, I found out that INEC original trainers are in Owerri.”
He accused the police of “being used to prevent legitimate monitors from observing the election process, particularly because they are from a staunch APC state.”
How security agents laid ambush for suspected poll riggers
Details have emerged as to how security agencies laid ambush for suspected election riggers who were arrested in Owerri, Imo State on Thursday.
According to Saturday Tribune investigations, intelligence reports had earlier confirmed the movement of the suspects from some states of the South-West and South-South.
Imo State police command on Thursday said it arrested 180 persons from Osun State who were accused of planning to enter Anambra State for the purpose of participating in the election illegally.
A report put together by security agencies confirmed that some leaders of an opposition party had met recently to deliberate on the Anambra election, and that the meeting resolved that each state of the South-West and some states in the South-South should raise at least 200 persons each to be moved to Anambra on election day.
The report also indicated that each of the states was to provide at least N5million to ferry the election workers to Anambra, who were to converge in Orlu, Imo State, where they would move to Awka in Anambra State.
Sources confirmed to the Saturday Tribune that intelligence reports had indicated that the election workers so mobilised by the governors and party leaders in those states started moving on November 12. They were expected to stop over in Imo State before moving to Awka, Anambra on November 15.
Intelligence information said to have been pieced together for the government also indicated that voters cards have been secretly prepared for the already mobilised ‘election workers’, with an instruction that everyone of them should bear the name on the voter cards given to them to enable them participate in the voting exercise.
On the strength of the reports, it was learnt that government not only decided on a security lockdown of Anambra for 36 hours, but also decided to comb all adjoining states where would-be election riggers could be kept by some party leaders – which then led to the arrest of the 180 suspects by the police.
Vote for credible leader, REC urges Anambra electorate
The INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner in Anambra, Prof. Chukwuemeka Onukaogu, has urged the people of the state to vote for the candidate who will enthrone good governance.
Onukaogu made the call in Awka on Friday when he spoke to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on the Nov. 16 Governorship Election in the state.
He said this had become necessary to sustain development in the state, stressing that the state’s development needed to be sustained.
“Over the years, development has not been sustained; we move one step forward and one step backward because we do not have good governance.
“If we want development to be sustained, we need good governance and a credible leader.
“Over the years, those who have governed the state have been imposed on us, both by the military and the civilians.
“ If we want to move Anambra forward, there is need for us to come out en masse and vote for a credible leader who will take Anambra to a greater height,” he said.
The REC said that the sensitive and non-sensitive materials were early on Friday distributed to all the 21 local government areas and assured the people that their votes would count.
NAN reports that INEC is putting finishing touches to their preparations for the election with the accreditation of journalists and other monitoring groups.
An information kit made available to journalists, showed that the stated had been divided into 326 wards with 4, 608 polling units and 6,581 voting points while 1,784,536 registered voters were expected to cast their ballots.
Observer lauds INEC’s arrangements
An accredited observer for the Anambra 2013 governorship election, Mr Monday Osasah, on Friday commended INEC for the arrangements put in place ahead of the Saturday event.
Osasah, the Programme Coordinator for African Centre for Leadership Strategy and Development, said the distribution of kits and materials to the observers and election officials went smoothly.
The programme coordinator told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in a telephone interview that the situation was calm as election materials were being distributed.
According to Osasah, the distribution of materials to observers by proxy was not allowed by the organisers.
“One good thing that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has done this time is not to distribute materials to observers through their leaders or heads.
“The new method is that every observer must be physically present to be given kits. This is a big plus and it shows readiness on the part of INEC to conduct a credible election.
“It is also good that over 20,000 security personnel have been deployed for the election,” he said.
He said that there was a “robust collaboration’’ between INEC and election observer groups to monitor the election.
“There was a briefing on Thursday that INEC rolled-out its expectations of us. We in the civil society movement here are in agreement entirely with INEC,” he said.
“We, however, hope that the way INEC is physically distributing kits to us should also apply to distribution of election materials and other processes of the election.”
Also, the Executive Director of the Civil Society Legislative Advocacy Centre (CISLAC), Mr Auwal Musa, told NAN that reforms were still needed to perfect the electoral processes.
“We will continue to demand for reforms because all is still not well with the existing legal frameworks to institute an inclusive voting process,” he said.
In his view, the National Coordinator of Nigeria Centenary Group, Mr Ariyo-Dare Atoye, said the successful conduct of the Anambra election would impact on Nigeria’s international rating.
“As we approach 100 years of the existence of the Nigerian state, credible elections are part of the assessment index to rate how transformational we are becoming,’’ he said.
The Secretary General of Conscience Nigeria, Mr Opeyemi Duke, urged INEC not to disappoint Nigerians in the election.
“We will measure the success of the election by the flood of litigations over irregularities the contestants will bring before the election tribunal and the courts,” he said.
Ekiti PDP gov aspirant expresses shock over Anambra arrests •Wants Osun, Ekiti polls held same day in 2014
Afenifere Chieftain and Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) governorship aspirant in Ekiti State, Prince Dayo Adeyeye has urged the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to hold the 2014 Ekiti and Osun States governorship election the same day so as to prevent influx of political thugs into the two States.
Adeyeye, who was reacting to the arrest of over 180 political thugs from Osun State, meant for the Anambra State governorship election, said; “If the All Progressives Congress (APC) government in Osun State could send over 180 thugs to Anambra from the State alone, one can begin to imagine how many thugs they will send to Ekiti State for the 2014 governorship election if the election is not held the same day.”
He called on the Police to make sure that the thugs are prosecuted and jailed, saying; “Those thugs must not be allowed to return to Osun State where they came from.”
He wondered why a State would recruit thugs for an election that is taking place in faraway Anambra State, using public fund.
Adeyeye said; “The reported arrest of over 180 thugs from Osun State in Imo State with two pump action guns, fake voters cards and fake INEC identity cards is a development that should worry all lovers of free and fair elections in Nigeria.
“This is because if police could arrest over 180 thugs, only God knows how many thugs have been ferried into Anambra State by the APC for tomorrow’s election.
“One can also begin to imagine how many thugs will be moved to Ekiti State from Osun, Oyo, Ogun, Lagos and Edo States during the 2014 governorship election.
“Therefore, to minimise the invasion of Ekiti State with thugs from Osun State before, during and after the election, INEC should hold the governorship election in the two States the same day.
“INEC should also look critically into the use of election observers as it has been turned to an avenue through which political thugs are moved around during elections.”
Source: Tribune
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