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Violence Erupted Edo Election: Few Voters Turn Out, As Oshiomhole Deplores Thuggery

At the popular Garrick Memorial Secondary along Ekenwan Road, Agbado Primary School, Emokpae Primary School and several other polling centres, all in the Edo State capital, the turnout of potential voters was dismal, unlike in the February 25 Presidential/National Assembly elections where there were long queues. Reports from several polling units in other parts of Edo South, Central and South Senatorial districts indicated low turnout and apathy of voters even as the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) worked well. There were unconfirmed reports of vote buying by some of the political parties in Benin in a desperate attempt at turning the table against a resurgent Labour Party (LP), which upstaged the two main parties: the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition People's Democratic Party (PDP). Former Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomohle accused security agencies of colluding with the local vigilantes to unleash mayhem and snatch ballot boxes in the flashpoint small town of Sobe, Owan West Local Government Area, in favour of one of the candidates.


There was violence at the Internally Displaced Persons Camp, Uhoghua Ovia North East Local Government Area, as hoodlums stormed the sleepy community in a commando-like manner and disrupted the election. It was gathered that the heavily armed men stormed the camp 30 minutes after the election started, shooting sporadically and chasing voters away from the polling units, destroying election materials, and making away with the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS). The voters were said to have scampered for safety to avoid being hit by a stray bullet. An eyewitness who would not want his name in print lamented that the situation was like a  war zone in the camp during the assault. He said the gunmen stormed the camp with their vehicles and started shooting sporadically just when people gathered to vote and had to run into the bush for safety. He wailed: "The hoodlums went for the ballot boxes, papers, Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) and carried everything away. Many people lost their Permanent Voters Cards in the process. There was no security presence during the attack."Speaking on his mobile phone, the camp coordinator, Pastor Folorusho Solomon, confirmed the incident, saying the election did not hold in the area due to the incident. Pastor Solomon, however, added that he didn't know who actually carried out the attack.

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