INEC office set ablaze in Ebonyi, ballot boxes, PVCs destroyed

INEC office set ablaze in Ebonyi, ballot boxes, PVCs destroye

The office of the Independent National Electoral Commission in Iboko, Izzi LGA of Ebonyi state, has been set ablaze.

INEC national commissioner, Festus Okoye, announced this in a statement on Sunday.

According to the statement, Onyeka Ugochi, the resident electoral commissioner for Ebonyi state, reported to the commission that the office was set ablaze around 10am on Sunday by unidentified persons.

“Although no casualties resulted from the attack, the main building and all the movable and immovable items inside it were destroyed.

“These include 340 ballot boxes, 130 voting cubicles, 14 electric power generators, large water storage tanks, assorted office furniture and fixtures and yet to be determined quantities of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs).

“The attention of the Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies has been drawn to the incident and have commenced investigation.

“Sadly, this is the third attack on our Local Government office in less than three weeks following similar attacks on our offices in Ogun and Osun States on 10th November 2022,” the statement reads.

Earlier in November, the commission’s office in Abeokuta south LGA of Ogun state was gutted by fire.

A total of 65,699 uncollected PVCs, 904 ballot boxes, 29 voting cubicles, 30 megaphones, 57 election bags, and eight electric power generators were destroyed in the fire.

The commission, at the time, had said it also got a report that one of its offices in Osun was attacked and set ablaze.