15 nabbed for electoral offences in Oyo, Nassarawa States

Abuja, – The Police in Oyo and Nassarawa States on Saturday arrested a total of 15 persons for various electoral offences as the National Assembly election was ongoing.

The Police in the two states confirmed the arrests  in separate interviews in Ibadan and Lafia, respectively.

Mr Olatunji Ajimuda, the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO) in Oyo State  said on Saturday the eight persons were arrested in the state for various electoral offences.

A breakdown of the figure showed that three people were arrested at Iwo Road area of
Ibadan for allegedly being in possession of live ammunition.

Ajimu also said that two persons were apprehended at Iseyin for allegedly attempting
to cause public disturbances while another two suspects were arrested at Ogbomosho for
being in possession of thumb printed ballot papers while voting was ongoing.

“One Fayi Obitade was also arrested at Idi Ayunre in Oluyole Local Government Area for
allegedly wandering about during the election period,” Ajimuda said..

An independent source at Egbeda Local Government Area of the state said  that
two people were arrested while a combined team of security operatives patrolling the
area dislodged some miscreants smoking Indian hemp.

The PPRO said that the suspects would be charged to court for electoral offences as
soon as investigations were concluded.

Meanwhile in Lafia, seven persons were apprehended in Giza ward of Keana Local Government areas of Nassarawa State on Saturday for snatching nine ballot boxes.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Alhaji Ahmed Makama, disclosed this to
journalists in his office.

He said that the suspects were apprehended by a combined team of security personnel after receiving information on the matter.

Makama said that the snatched boxes were taken to the house of a federal civil servant but
declined to give the name of the officer.

The electoral commissioner, however, identified one of the alleged suspects as Jonah Jato, a PDP cuncillorship candidate.

He said that the suspects been handed over to the police for prosecution.

When contacted, the Commissioner of Police in the state, Mr Emmanuel Obioka, confirmed the arrests adding that the command had already commenced investigations.

Meanwhile, the electoral commissioner described the turnout and orderliness of voters during the
election as impressive.

He said that the issue of some eligible voters’ names missing from the voter register was being
addressed and gave assurance that their names would be printed before next Saturday’s election.

Makama described as “tremendous” the support his office received from the security agencies in the
state.

According to him, all the heads of the security outfits were part of his monitoring team during
the exercise.

NAN reports that except for the missing names in some of the voter registers, the conduct of the exercise
was smooth in most of the polling units visited. (NAN)