Gunmen attack Kogi REC in Lokoja
..APC, SDP Trade Words Over The Attack
Gunmen have attacked the residence of the Resident Electoral Commissioner, REC, of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, in Lokoja, the Kogi state capital.
Chief Press Secretary to the INEC Chairman, Mr Rotimi Oyekanmi disclosed this in a statement Friday in Abuja.
He said the REC, Dr Hale Longpet was hale and hearty as the security personnel attached to him were able to hold off the attackers before reinforcement.
“In the early hours of today, Friday 1st December 2023, around 3.30am, gunmen attacked the residence of our Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Lokoja, Kogi State.
“The armed men engaged the security personnel in a gun battle for over 30 minutes until reinforcement arrived.
“While no lives were lost, property was destroyed in the ensuing gun battle. A team of combined security personnel have been deployed to protect the residence.This incident occurred a day after a mob besieged our state office.
“We call for a thorough investigation and enhanced security protection for our personnel and assets in Kogi State”, he stated.
Some protesters branded in Social Democratic Party SDP shirts had on Wednesday besieged the INEC office in Lokoja claiming that the commission was working with the state government to tamper with election materials.
One of them who identified himself as Danjuma, said they were sure the materials at the INEC Office had been compromised by the APC, vowing that those who stole his people’s mandate must not live to enjoy it.
“We have it on good authority that the APC and Yahaya Bello have tampered with the election materials. The materials they are taking to the tribunal have already been doctored. So we are calling on INEC to take the original material to INEC, or we will make Kogi State ungovernable.
“Those who stole the mandate of Kogi East must not live to enjoy it. We are calling on the President and also the National Chairman of INEC to ensure the doctored materials are immediately replaced with the original ones before they are presented at the tribunal. Anything other than that will be resisted,” he had said.
Meanwhile, the attack on the residence of the Kogi State Residence Electoral Commissioner Gabriel Longpet has continued to trigger reactions from stakeholders with the All Progressives Congress (APC) and the Social Democratic Party (SDP) trading words over the incident.
In a press conference hours after the Friday attack, the Kogi APC Campaign Council blamed the incident on the SDP governorship candidate Muritala Ajaka and his supporters, calling for his arrest and prosecution.
“They have finally done their worst by attacking the residence of the Kogi State INEC Commissioner, engaging security agents in a fierce gun battle and eventually burning down some vehicles in the residence and the area,” the APC Campaign Council spokesman Kingsley Fanwo said.
“The same arsonists also had an attempt to burn down the Kogi State Government House foiled by our eagle-eye security agents. The same attempt was foiled at the State APC Secretariat in Lokoja.”
Fanwo, who is also the Kogi State Commissioner for Information, accused the SDP and their collaborators of desperation to destroy some documents in INEC. He claimed it was to cover the heist they committed in Kogi East where they allegedly killed APC supporters “and drove them out of collation centres to forge the results that were eventually trumped by the massive votes of Kogites for the Governor-Elect”.
Election Not War
But the SDP has absolved the party of any blame in the attack, claiming it was masterminded by “thugs who are loyal to Governor Yahaya Bello”.
“We strongly condemn the assassination attempt on the INEC Resident Commissioner for Kogi state, Dr. Hale Gabriel Longpet, which took place in Lokoja at approximately 2:00 am this morning, December 1st, 2023,” the party said in a statement by the Director, New Media, Muri/ Sam Campaign Organisation David Ijele.
He regretted the attack, saying: “Election should not be treated as a war, nor should it be a matter of life and death. If the election was won fairly and transparently, then the legal process should be allowed to run its course without interference.
“However, it is unacceptable for thugs, in their high numbers yesterday, to be subject to fake protests, insisting that, on no account should forensic teams be allowed to do their jobs.”
The SDP chieftain thanked security agencies for their “timely intervention” which he said forestalled the assailant from further damage.
“Those individuals who have been involved in these attacks on INEC REC must be held accountable for their actions. We call for all those who have been involved in the protests, inciting violence and making provocative statements, to be apprehended and brought to justice,” he added.
Friday’s incident is coming about two weeks after the APC coasted to victory in the Kogi State Governorship election, beating the SDP which took second in the November 14 exercise.
But the SDP has rejected the results and is in court to challenge APC’s Usman Ododo’s declaration as Yahaya Bello’s successor in Lugarad House.
