Police find 1,700 voter cards inside bush

Some VCs

The Lagos State Police Command has recovered no fewer than 1,700 Voter Cards believed to have been hidden by unknown persons inside a bush in the Seme, Badagry area of Lagos.

PUNCH Metro learnt that the VCs, which were concealed in a swampy forest in the area, were recovered by policemen attached to the Area K Command, Morogbo.

Our correspondent gathered that the officers, who were on patrol, stumbled on the hidden election materials on Sunday, November 16.

According to the police, the recovered VCs, which had been handed over to the Independent National Electoral Commission, Lagos State office, are suspected to have been stolen from an INEC worker in the Ajeromi-Ifelodun Local Government Area.

The Lagos State Police Public Relations, DSP Kenneth Nwosu, while confirming the recovery of the VCs, added that INEC had, however, found the recovered materials to be the old Voter Cards.

He said, “The materials were hidden in a swampy area in Seme. The police did not arrest any suspect because the area is not a neighbourhood. It is an abandoned location.

“Also, the INEC have duly been informed. We have shown them the recovered materials, although INEC eventually found them to be the old Voter Cards. However, the case is under investigation at the Area K Command.”

When PUNCH Metro contacted the Lagos State INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr. A.L Ogunmola, on Sunday for comment, he requested that he should be called back as he was having a rest.

Meanwhile, the police also recovered a stolen vehicle in the same area. The vehicle, a Ford salon car, marked FST 598 XL, was recovered by policemen attached to the Federal Highway Patrol, Agbara, on the Lagos-Badagry Expressway.

Our correspondent learnt that the stolen vehicle was driven by a suspect, Mr. Saheed Oyedare, who with two other occupants of the car, was arrested by the police.

It was gathered that the suspects, during interrogation, confessed that they snatched the vehicle from a residence on the Lagos Island on Wednesday, November 5.

Also, in the Alagbado area, the police from the Ojokoro division arrested a suspected armed robber with some ammunition.

The suspect, Akeem Shonde, was driving a Volkswagen Golf, marked LSD 220 CP, when he was stopped by a police patrol team.

PUNCH Metro gathered that the suspect was found with a Russian-made single-barrelled rifle and 11 rounds of ammunition.

Nwosu confirmed the arrests, adding that the cases were under investigation at the Department of Criminal Investigation, Yaba.http://www.punchng.com/metro-plus/police-find-1700-voter-cards-inside-bush/