Chukwudi Akasike, Simon Utebor and Etim Ekpimah
AT least, five persons were feared killed on Saturday in the Southern Ijaw Local Government Area of Bayelsa State as the Independent National Electoral Commission cancelled and postponed the governorship election in some areas in the state to Sunday (today) because of violence.
Gunmen suspected to be militants stormed the Okporoma community in the state during Saturday’s poll and bombarded the area with heavy gunshots for several hours.
The action of the gunmen, which also left several persons critically injured, created fear in the area, a situation which forced many residents to flee for their lives.
Gunmen believed to be political thugs also unleashed terror on supporters of the two leading political parties, the Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress in the Ekeremor Local Government Area of the state.
INEC rescheduled poll in Southern Ijaw three LGAs’ units
However, INEC on Saturday cancelled and rescheduled the governorship election for the whole of troubled Southern Ijaw LGA for Sunday (today).
This was made known by the Head of Department, Voter Education and Publicity in the State INEC, Mr. Timidi Wariowei, in a statement on Saturday.
Wariowei said while Southern Ijaw was affected by the cancellation, 13 polling units in Nembe Ward 9 (Okoroma) were affected.
The units, according to Wariowei, who also doubles as the Public Relations Officer of the state INEC, are Units 5, 7, 8, 9, 10, 11, 12, 14, 15, 16, 17, 18 and 19.
He said election in Ward 4 (Anyama) and Ward 5 (Okodi) were also scheduled for Sunday.
In Brass LGA, the state’s INEC spokesman explained that elections would also take place in Ward 6 (Cape Formosa), Polling Units 12, 17, 18, 19, 20 and 21.
Wariowei said the rescheduling of election in the affected areas was due to violence and disturbances recorded in those places.
He expressed the commission’s regret over the cancellation but added that that voting materials would be moved into the affected areas before 8am on Sunday (today).
Wariowei told one of our correspondents that collation of results was still taking place in the wards as of 8.20pm hence dismissing insinuations that the results of the election had been released.
Dickson, Sylva trade blames on violence
The incumbent Governor of Bayelsa, Seriake Dickson, who is the candidate of the PDP, accused the APC of sponsoring attacks on his supporters in the Southern Ijaw and Ekeremor LGAs of the state.
The Southern Ijaw LGA had been identified as a flashpoint, especially during the election period, mainly due to the interest of some militants in the place.
It was gathered that violence in the area was so intense that accreditation of voters did not start until 2.30pm after security operatives took control of the place.
The eruption of violence in the area was said to have led to low turnout of voters in Southern Ijaw, an LGA known for turning out high votes during polls.
Dickson also accused his APC counterpart, Timipre Sylva, of arming thugs with police and military uniforms to attack his supporters, adding that security agents looked the other way while the hoodlums attacked his supporters.
He said, “My supporters have come under total and premeditated attack sponsored by the minister of state and his younger brother in Ekeremor and APC-sponsored attack on my party supporters in Okporoma in Southern Ijaw.
“I am not convinced. They said that the federal-controlled security agencies have been protecting the political environment. I have my party and I have said it over and over again while campaigning that while we were preparing for this election, the other side was preparing for war.
“They have armed their thugs with police, and military uniforms and in some cases protected by the security agencies themselves. The security agencies have all the time to investigate and apprehend the culprits.
“We are taking stock of all of these and we hope and expect that the appropriate authorities will take action against these notorious criminals, who have unleashed mayhem on their fellow citizens all in the name of politics.”
But the Sylva-Igiri Campaign Organisation of the APC also raised the alarm over alleged violent attacks on members and supporters of the party across the state.
A statement by the Director, Media and Publicity, SICO, Nathan Egba, alleged that the governor imported over 5,000 thugs from neighbouring states of Delta and Rivers to cause violence in the election.
Egba said, “The unknown faces, now in most of the riverine communities of Bayelsa State, have been terrorising the people with gunshots to scare people away from the polling units.
“The wave of attack has confirmed our fears and the alarm earlier raised that Governor Dickson was the one planning to cause violence.”
Card reader fails Dickson, wife
In Sagbama LGA, Dickson, after his accreditation by INEC officials at about 10.38am in his ward, complained about the inability of the card reader to recognise his fingerprints and those of his wife and mother.
He decried a situation where the card readers were still faulty despite the assurances given by INEC.
He said, “I have just done my registration, but it took so much time for the card reader to function. In spite of the trials and in spite of assurances, we all saw that my fingerprints could not be recognised.
“We have a serious problem as far as the use of the so-called smart card reader is concerned. I hope we don’t start portraying ourselves as an unserious and fraudulent country. My fingerprints could not be recognised, same for my wife and mother. But we wish INEC the best.”
In Ogbia, it was gathered that a political party allegedly planted hoodlums in Opume, the community of King Amalate Turner, with the aim of hijacking polling materials.
In Kolokuma/Opokuma, a member of the House of Representatives allegedly used armed thugs and some security personnel to intimidate APC supporters in order to discourage them from going to the polling units.
An APC agent, Mr. Christopher Abaraowei, was attacked by suspected thugs before he was chased out of the centre with a broken head and injured left eye.
17 suspected thugs arrested
Meanwhile, operatives of the Joint Task Force codenamed ‘Operation Pulo Shield’ have arrested 17 hoodlums that allegedly ambushed Sylva and his supporters.
Some bandits had at Odioama village in the Brass LGA of the state prevented the APC candidate and his entourage from entering the community.
They accused the former governor of the state of neglect and for visiting too late in the day.
About 17 of the youths were caught with arms and ammunition by soldiers attached to Operation Pulo Shield stationed in the town.
Also, a retired soldier and five others were arrested by the police deployed in the state for being in possession of some arms and ammunition, including explosives.
Sylva accredited early
The APC candidate was accredited at 11.44am along with his wife, Alayingi, at Eseni Square, Unit 4, Ward 4, Okpoama-Brass.
Sylva condemned the alleged attack on the house of Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Resources, Mr. Heineken Lokpobiri, in Ekeremor by hoodlums.
He also picked holes in the many incidents of failed card readers, but expressed optimism that having had a successful campaign, he was sure of victory.
Few hours before the commencement of accreditation of voters, the country home of the Minister of State for Agriculture and Director-General of the Sylva/Igiri campaign organisation, Sen. Heineken Lokpobiri, came under attack by gunmen.
At Oporoma, the headquarters of the LGA, two ex-militants, who are known members of one of the leading political parties, allegedly led some armed thugs to the community where five people were feared killed.
But police authorities refuted the claim, saying that though there was violence, nobody was killed.
Spokesman for the state Police command, Asinim Butswat, said only one person was seriously injured, even as he promised to get more information regarding the reported killings in Southern Ijaw area of the state.
Unauthenticated results from the ward level indicated that former President Jonathan, Dickson and Sylva won in their respective polling units.
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