INEC Loses Office, 748 Ballot Boxes, 240 Voting Cubicles To Arsonists In Enugu
BY ONYEKACHUKWU IBEZIM – The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) lost 748 ballot boxes and 240 Voting Cubicles to the fire incident that razed its office in Igboeze North Local Government Area of Enugu State late on Sunday night.
The arsonists reportedly invaded the office, situated at the council headquarters in Ogurute, at about 11:48 pm on Sunday.
In their wake, the criminal elements left the building in ruins with office furniture and other accessories burnt to ashes.
National Electoral Commissioner for Information and Voter Education, Festus Okoye, said the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Emeka Ononamadu, reported that the office was torched on Sunday night by some hoodlums.
According to a signed statement released on the fire incident, Okoye said; “Although no casualties were reported, 748 ballot boxes, 240 voting cubicles, office furniture and equipment were destroyed in spite of the best efforts of the Enugu State Fire Service deployed from Nsukka.”
He said the arsonists overpowered the security guards, forced their way into the premises and set the building ablaze.
“The Commission is working to ascertain the status of voter registration machines for the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise as well as uncollected Permanent Voters Cards (PVCs) locked up in the fireproof cabinet.”
He said the electoral umpire was worried about attacks on INEC offices ahead of the 2023 general elections adding; “The Commission has since substantially recovered from these attacks and resumed normal activities there, including the CVR and collection of PVCs.
“The Commission will continue to work with the security agencies and the emergency services to protect our facilities.”
Incidents around arson have been recurring in Enugu State. On May 13, 2021, the INEC head office in Udenu Local Government Area of Enugu State was attacked by unknown gunmen.
Similarly, the Commission’s State headquarters in Enugu was also attacked on May 16, 2021, while the office in Igboeze South Local Government Area came under attack on May 23, 2021.
