A non-governmental organisation, Watch Elections, has refuted reports in the media that about five persons lost their lives in the December 5 inconclusive governorship election in Bayelsa State.
Speaking with journalists on Thursday in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, National Coordinator of the group, Fez Chinweizu, commended the Nigerian Army for its role in Oporoma, saying they helped to calm the situation that would have resulted in loss of lives.
Chinweizu, while dismissing claims in certain quarters that the military aided one of the political parties, said, “When political thugs started exchanging fire in Oporoma, the few policemen on ground disappeared. It took the timely intervention of the army to save the situation.”
According to Chinweizu, the five persons reported to have died during the exchange of fire by the thugs were rescued by the army and treated at the Military Hospital in Port Harcourt.
“We were very thorough in monitoring the election unlike several other NGOs that did theirs from hotel rooms in Yenagoa. I can tell you that nobody died on account of shooting in Southern Ijaw Local Government Area on the day of the election. The five persons that were reported dead were rescued by the army and treated at their hospital in Port Harcourt,” he said.
He noted that if anybody actually died, their photos would have been all over the social media.
Expressing disappointment over the level of preparation of the police ahead of the election, Chimweizu, said that only about 50 men out of about 200 deployed to Southern Ijaw had riffles, adding that the Police also had problem with boats to ferry their men to Oporoma.
He said this was why the few that got to Oporoma fled during the exchange of fire by political thugs.
Chinwezu stated that the gun battle in between rival political thugs in Oporoma on the day of the election could have been avoided, if only election materials arrived on time. He noted that as at 3 pm, materials for the election had not gone round the polling units in Southern Ijaw, a situation which allegedly fueled suspicions.
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