…non-indigenes threatened, prevented from voting in some areas
Chioma Akpotha, Nollywood actress, has cried out in fear after being attacked at her polling unit in Lagos.
Akpotha, who did an Instagram live recording, said she was manhandled by the thugs.
The actress, who ran to some soldiers, said she was done with accreditation and was about voting when strange looking men invaded the polling unit around Victoria Garden City in Lagos.
“They destroyed my side mirror, hit my car. I don’t even know the extent of damage to the car, but I just ran out for my life because they wanted to stab me and all that. Thank God I came with some people to help me,” she said.
She pleaded with soldiers who followed her to the polling unit where many persons were seen outside as the voting area was deserted.
Armed thugs have been going around polling units today in Lagos to threaten, harass and in some cases, physically attack the non-indigenes who are not ready to vote for the ruling party in the state, the All Progressives Congress (APC).
“If you no fit vote APC, no come outside oo. This one no be like last time oo,” the thugs warned.
In Ojodu part of Lagos, our correspondent sighted thugs moving inside three coaster buses wearing masks. They went from one polling unit to another, driving away intending voters they considered not supporters of APC.
A lady in tears who chose to remain anonymous for security reasons, narrated how she was pounced on by the thugs in her polling unit, preventing her from casting her vote for her preferred candidate.
At another polling unit in the same area, another intending voter was slapped by thugs and driven away because they suspected he was not an APC supporter.
A career driver in an adjacent polling unit by name Ayo (not real name), showed our correspondent a head injury he sustained from trying to rescue an Igbo lady who was attacked by some of the thugs.
“This is not fair, I am a full-fledged Yoruba man but those thugs hit me on the head just because I tried to stop them from attacking an Igbo lady who had lined up to cast her vote. Look at my head (he pointed at the wound). Is this an election? People should feel free to vote for their preferred candidates. But with a situation like this, we are no longer in democracy,” he narrated.
Investigations by this paper reveal that same violent situation occurred in most parts of Lagos.
According to our source, in Alimosho area which accounts for the largest number of potential voters in Lagos State, thugs were moving from house to house, warning people who were not ready to vote for APC not to venture to step out of their homes.
In Oshodi area, a key polling unit was locked and prospective voters denied entry while journalists were harassed.
In the highbrow Victoria Garden City (VGC), INEC officials were said to have moved all the polling units outside the estate, unlike the usual practice whereby voting was carried out within the estate.
When asked for explanations for moving out the polling units, an INEC official simply said, “It’s an order from the Local Government Council”.
Peter Obi of Labour Party (LP) defeated President-elect Bola Tinubu of the APC in Lagos, which has been under the control of APC since 1999.
There were several incidents of violence in Lagos during the presidential election.
The threat issued against Igbo by the Lagos State Parks Management Committee Chairman, Musiliu Akinsanya popularly known as MC Oluomo.
Addressing supporters of the ruling APC at a meeting, MC Oluomo threatened Igbos who would not vote for the party to stay at home.
“We have begged them. If they don’t want to vote for us, it is not a fight. Tell them, Mama Chukwudi, if you don’t want to vote for us, sit down at home. Sit down at home,” he said in the video.
MC Oluomo withdrew his statement after it triggered a nationwide outrage.
Former Vice-President Atiku Abubakar had condemned the silence of President Muhammadu Buhari and the President-Elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu.
The Lagos State Commissioner of Police, CP Idowu Owohunwa, also ordered the Cybercrimes Unit of the Command to commence immediate and comprehensive investigation into the incident. (Based on reports by Daily Trust and The Frontier)
