By Leattle Pablo (Paul Abojeh)
The first phase of the Nigerian polls – for Governorship and House of Representatives – has been conducted successfully, but not without some outbreaks of violence and demonstration in some states.
So far, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has emerged winner in most of the states whose results have been released. Other winners are the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) and the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) in Zamfara and Abia states, respectively.
These results seem to be the element that sparked off the demonstrations and violence, as many party supporters, protested on the streets citing rigging and electoral misconduct. There were protests in Osun, Ondo and Oyo states of Nigeria, with cases of journalists being attacked and women going almost half naked in protest.
There were more serious cases of violence in some states during the polling process.
Benin City, Edo State - There was vandalization of police vehicles with cases of violence. Three people were reported dead. The Labour Congress Party gubernatorial candidate Comrade Adams Oshiomole also reported in an interview with AIT journalists, that thugs working for the PDP stormed the polling stations brandishing sophisticated automatic weapons and escorted by policemen. Television reports also showed demolitions in some places.
Warri, Delta State - Violence was reported here; a policeman was shot and pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. The shooting occurred during the polling process. Two police stations were burnt down.
Port Harcourt, Rivers State - Six policemen were shot dead in a violent attack during the polling exercise. The thugs are yet to be identified.
Kaduna, Kaduna State - I visited a number of polling units and observed that on a large proportion, the exercise was conducted amicably. There was however unpleasant occurrences at some polling units. There was the case of someone showing up at a polling unit and smearing indelible ink on already used ballot papers. These ballot papers were consequently cancelled.
Abuja, FCT - There was a case of an attempt to steal a ballot box, but the police intervened and the intruder was arrested. It was not stated who the individual was working for.
There were other cases of violence in some other states that were not covered in this report. The death toll nationwide is estimated at 40 persons. Besides these unpleasant occurrences, the exercise was successful.
Visiting some polling units in Kaduna, at night, I found party agents at the units up till 10:00PM Saturday night, making sure that the counting of votes was fair and transparent. It is encouraging to note that Nigerians are now taking national issues, seriously.
Keep your eyes glued to the news; I hope to keep you posted as events unfold.
So far, the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) has emerged winner in most of the states whose results have been released. Other winners are the All Nigerian Peoples Party (ANPP) and the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA) in Zamfara and Abia states, respectively.
These results seem to be the element that sparked off the demonstrations and violence, as many party supporters, protested on the streets citing rigging and electoral misconduct. There were protests in Osun, Ondo and Oyo states of Nigeria, with cases of journalists being attacked and women going almost half naked in protest.
There were more serious cases of violence in some states during the polling process.
Benin City, Edo State - There was vandalization of police vehicles with cases of violence. Three people were reported dead. The Labour Congress Party gubernatorial candidate Comrade Adams Oshiomole also reported in an interview with AIT journalists, that thugs working for the PDP stormed the polling stations brandishing sophisticated automatic weapons and escorted by policemen. Television reports also showed demolitions in some places.
Warri, Delta State - Violence was reported here; a policeman was shot and pronounced dead on arrival at the hospital. The shooting occurred during the polling process. Two police stations were burnt down.
Port Harcourt, Rivers State - Six policemen were shot dead in a violent attack during the polling exercise. The thugs are yet to be identified.
Kaduna, Kaduna State - I visited a number of polling units and observed that on a large proportion, the exercise was conducted amicably. There was however unpleasant occurrences at some polling units. There was the case of someone showing up at a polling unit and smearing indelible ink on already used ballot papers. These ballot papers were consequently cancelled.
Abuja, FCT - There was a case of an attempt to steal a ballot box, but the police intervened and the intruder was arrested. It was not stated who the individual was working for.
There were other cases of violence in some other states that were not covered in this report. The death toll nationwide is estimated at 40 persons. Besides these unpleasant occurrences, the exercise was successful.
Visiting some polling units in Kaduna, at night, I found party agents at the units up till 10:00PM Saturday night, making sure that the counting of votes was fair and transparent. It is encouraging to note that Nigerians are now taking national issues, seriously.
Keep your eyes glued to the news; I hope to keep you posted as events unfold.
*I regret the absence of photos and (or) videos. I couldn’t get any of these as I had no available camera or cam coder. Some of the information here was gotten from the African Independent Television (AIT) reports.
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