The Police in Enugu State have described as untrue rumour making the rounds that at least two persons lost their lives during today’s local government election in Enugu State.
Spokesman of the command, SP Ebere Amaraizu in a statement made available to journalists said nobody died in any part of the State during the election.
He said, “against the backdrop of the rumours making round that some persons were killed in Oji River Local Government Area of Enugu state today 4/11/17, the state command of the Nigeria Police Force wishes to make it categorically clear that there was no loss of lives in Oji River and throughout the entire state.
“We wish to state that there was an issue in which some electoral officials and materials were held hostage by some group of persons who had insisted that there will not be election in Oji River and its environs and those group of persons also threatened to burn down the local government secretariate should the election go on.
“The situation lasted until the arrival of the state commissioner of police, Danmallam Mohammed and his entourage who had been on visitations of polling stations and booths monitoring security situations.
“Following the group’s resistance, the issue was professionally handled as they were dispersed and consequently, normalcy returned and there was commencement of distributions of electoral materials to centres and wards within Oji River and its environs. No loss of life and injury was recorded.”
In a related development, the National Association of Nigerian Students (NANS) has commended the Enugu State Independent Electoral Commission (ENSIEC) for organizing peaceful Local Government Elections in Enugu State, in spite of some failed plots to undermine the exercise.
Speaking after monitoring the elections in the state, the National President of NANS, Comrade Chinonso Obasi, told journalists that they were pleased with the conduct of the elections, applauding Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi for providing an enabling environment, which he said gave the electorate the opportunity to exercise their franchise.
NANS President explained that despite the complaints by the oppositions over the alleged late arrival of election materials, which they intervened by making suggestions to ENSIEC, their observations from the polling units visited showed that the exercise was successful, peaceful and in accordance with the commission’s guidelines.
He, had however, requested the ENSIEC to extend the voting time to accommodate willing voters, a suggestion which the electoral body complied with by extending the polls till 5pm.
“We are so glad for the peaceful conduct of this Local Government Elections in Enugu State and we thank the governor for this feat, at least the people are voting and the process is ongoing and we will continue our independent monitoring to enable us give a comprehensive report”, the NANS President said.
Also speaking, the state chairman of NANS, Comrade Chidi Ilogede, accused those he described as “opponents of the Peoples Democratic Party of being behind some of the challenges encountered during the exercise in a failed attempt to discredit the elections”, calling on the security agencies to investigate and fish out those behind the explosions.
The ENSIEC had organized Local Government elections across the 17 Local Government Areas and 260 electoral wards in the state to elect those who will be at the helm of the council areas as chairmen and councilors, and the results are being awaited.
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