16 persons lost their lives as violence broke out in several parts of the country as Nigerians went to the polls to elect a new president and members of the national assembly.
Situation Room- an umbrella body of Civil Society Organizations- monitoring the elections all over the country- in a report made available to the public Twitter said 16 persons lost their lives in the course of today’s voting across 8 states.
Disruption of voting, ballot box snatching and destruction of voting materials by burning are some of the most vivid examples of violence witnessed in today’s polls. Nigeria’s election has characteristically been marred by violence so very few are surprised by some of the events that played out today.
Analysts SBM Intelligence announced that in the course of the electioneering campaigns, 233 persons lost their lives in 67 incidents between October and the eve of the polls on Friday.
In the oil rich Niger Delta region, a former chairman of the opposition PDP and his brother were gunned down in Andonia area of Rivers State by unidentified gunmen according to a statement released by the police. There were also reports of violence in the Okirika region of the state were there were initial reports of carting away of electoral materials by persons suspected to be sympathetic to one of the parties- the police and the electoral umpire- Independent National Electoral Commission have since moved in to ensure that voters in the area cast their ballots.
There were also reports of violence and fisticuffs in the nation’s commercial capital Lagos as thugs were seen harassing and molesting voters while security agencies offered little by way of resistance.