just in: Ballot thieves snatch ballot box in Delta

Suspected ballot thieves snatched a ballot box from a polling unit at Ute-Okpu community in Ika North East Local Government, Delta State, Saturday morning, and took it to unknown hideout, despite President Muhammadu Buhari’s warning that such persons stand the risk of losing their lives.

our correspondent learned that the ballot snatchers caught security agents, including soldiers deployed to the area unawares. However, soldiers cordoned off the area soon after the incident, searching voters and demanding that every person within the surroundings of the polling unit show his or her Permanent Voters Cards, PVCs, or be taken as a ballot thief. A voter, who spoke to our reporter on the incident, said, “There is tension at Ute-Okpu over the incident, the boys of a well-known politician stormed the polling unit, snatched the ballot box and ran away with it in their vehicle. There was nothing the voters could do.” Reports from several parts of the state indicate that there was slow reading of card readers at most of the filling stations, but at parts of Agbor, people voted as early as 9.00 am after accreditation. The governor of the state, Senator Ifeanyi Okowa, voted at his his Afor Primary School, Owa Aleiro voting unit and was seen receiving and making phone calls at intervals. His father, Pa Arthur Okowa, who voted earlier, complained that the card reader was too slow and the electoral officals not properly trained for the exercise. At Ovwian-Aladja in Udu local government area, human rights activist and lawyer, Oghenejabor Ikimi, said, “Materials arrived late, at 11..27 am, they are still doing accreditation, I am still here, I hope they will not disenfranchise us.”

Security was tight at most parts of Asaba, as soldiers mounted checkpoint to ensure that only authorized persons were on the road, but materials, especially result sheets came late to polling units in Oshimili South