Gunmen abduct election officials in Cross River

By Nsa Gill, Calabar

Unknown gunmen on Saturday abducted election officials as they filed out with election materials to eight   polling units in Cross River State for the re-run election in Afayna/Igoni-Igoni ward, Abi.

The Federal Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in charge of South South, Dr. Mohammed Lecky, told reporters that the officials were seized on the waterways leading to their duty posts. Lecky said the gunmen went away with the electoral officers including the state presiding officer (SPO) and all their voting materials.

He said the security men attached to the abducted officials chose not to engage the armed men in a gun battle to avoid loss of lives. He expressed sadness over the incident but thanked God that all the NYSC members on duty and other election duty officials returned safely to office except the SPO, whose phone was ringing but was not picked.

He put the total number of registered voters in the affect areas at 5606. The re-run in the state was scheduled for 33 polling units covering Ekureku ward one and ward two of Abi/Yakurr Federal Constituency where Dr. Alex Ebona of the APC aimed to retain the seat he won during the February 2019 elections.

The re-run also affected some wards in the Abi State House of Assembly constituency. Across many other polling units visited during the voting hours, there was a huge turnout of voters. The PDP candidate, John Gual Lebo, whose petition led to the rerun election refused to speak to newsmen.

Read Also: Photos: Bye election holds in Cross River

However, Dr. Alex Ebona, the APC candidate expressed satisfaction at the huge turnout of voters. He said: “The turnout is encouraging and you know that the election is in my community. I am in touch with my community and that is why you see this unprecedented turn out.”

It was also observed that the INEC officials had initial difficulty in containing the large crowd, especially at Gbagaro Agbara and Egbonyi polling units in Ekureku II ward. Speaking on the conduct of the election, the presiding officer for Gbagaro Agbara polling unit, Mr. Isaac Oke, said: “I can tell you the election materials arrived at 8:00am and  we commended accreditation immediately because the voters were already on ground. There is a large turnout of voters as you can see. The card reader is very slow, but we promise to ensure that everybody will vote at the end of the day.”