Machetes wielding supporters attack INEC office, snatch ballot boxes

Policemen had a hectic time on Saturday chasing ballot boxes snatched by armed political supporters who attacked INEC office at the Lagos Island area of the state.

This was even as the Lagos State Commissioner of Police; Mr. Kayode Aderanti said public announcement would be made concerning movement on restriction for Sunday, since voting continues.
  He also said that the mandatory 6pm movement restriction for Lagos State on Saturday had been stepped up to 7pm.

A police source said that at the Lagos Island, hundreds of political supporters, armed with broken  bottles and machetes attacked INEC office at the Adeniji Adele.

“The INEC office at that period they attacked, had just few policemen, personnel of  the Nigerian prisons and Nigerian Security Civil Defence Corps. Immediately they sighted the armed men, they all bolted, abandoning the office. The political supporters seized five ballot boxes,” said the police source.

He said that the police and soldiers rushed to the area when they got a distress call and pursued some of the hoodlums. The men sighted the security agents and dropped four of the ballot boxes, while frantic effort is on to recover the fifth one.

He added: “We’ve recovered four, remaining one. Some of the uniform personnel posted at the INEC office were women. Some even tied wrapper. No one had been arrested, but none of the security agents were harmed. The Commissioner has just now ordered that all INEC offices be guarded and local government offices be monitored.”

Meanwhile at Oke-Odo ward in Ajah, people were not able to vote.

Mr. Adedeji Tunji Ojo said: “INEC officials didn’t come until almost 2pm. When they came, they said we should go home and come back on Sunday for our accreditation and voting. I really don’t know what went wrong.”

Speaking on the extension of the movement restriction from 6pm-7pm, Aderanti said it became necessary due to the hiccups association with the accreditation, occasioned by the card reader in some areas of the state.

Asked what the movement restriction would looked like on Sunday since INEC had stated that voting continues, Aderanti said that a public announcement would be made to intimate Lagosians of latest development.