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APRIL 30, 2007 VOL. 21. NO 3

An Elected Violence

**A soldier brutalising an alleged political thug.**

As violence trail the Saturday, April 14 gubernatorial polls, amid allegations of massive rigging by the ruling People’s Democratic Party (PDP), fears are rife that the nation may be sitting on a keg of gun powder
By George Umunnakwe
INNOCENT lives snuffed out. Different levels of injury recorded. Houses and cars burnt. Other properties severely damaged. Confusion and chaos reign supreme. Thick, dark smoke billowing freely into the sky. Irate youths, and in some cases women who wore their clothes inside out singing obscenities, threw their fists into the air as bonfires raged in the background. Police stations burnt and officers killed while the armoury is looted.
Such was the dominant scenario in many states where State Resident Electoral Commissioners (REC) of the Independent National Electoral Commission, otherwise called INEC, announced results that fell short of the expectations of the electorate. Upon such announcements, supporters of the opposition stormed the streets in protest, accusing the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) of rigging the elections.
And so from Benin, the Edo State capital, to Delta, Rivers, Enugu, Ondo, Osun and Lagos, a gloomy picture of what elections ought not to be was on showcase. The Northern part of the country, of course, was not spared the feast of destruction and loss of lives which greeted the Saturday, April 14 elections, as kano, Bauchi and Kogi became unbearable for the various state governments to control. Hence a dusk to dawn curfew was imposed as it was in some states in the southern part of the country.
Benin, for instance, was brought to its kneels literarily, when the state Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mallam Muhammed Abubakar Ahmadu, declared Senator Osarhiemen Osunbor winner. This was after a two-day suspense occassioned by a long wait for the counted votes to be announced. Ahmadu, The Source was told, had upon realising that the Action Congress (AC) gubernatorial candidate, Comrade Adams Oshiomohole, was leading, halted the announcement of the results to be announced on Sunday, April 15. This necessitated calls for the election to be cancelled and postponed. Leading this pack was Dr. Samuel Ogbemudia, a chieftain of the People’s Democratic Party. The Source gathered that feeling disturbed, Ahmadu was summoned to Abuja, headquarters of the INEC for alleged briefing.
Interestingly, when he returned to the state capital on Monday, April 16, the tables changed as he announced that Oshiomohole of the AC came second with 197,472 votes while the All Nigeria People’s Party (ANPP) candidate, Emmanuel Arigbe-Osula came third with 8,253 votes. Osunbor of the PDP he said, polled 329,740 votes to win the race. Ahmadu, therefore, announced Osunbor as the elected governor of Edo State.
Ahmadu further told the bewildered crowd that the total votes cast were 539,061. Results from Akoko-Edo and Etsako Central local government areas, he said, were cancelled, as it was discovered that there were no elections in those areas.
Apparently dissatisfied with the result, Oshiomhole was said to have stormed out of the INEC hall to meet his already agitated supporters. Expectedly, hell was let loose as protests erupted around Ikpoba Hill where the INEC headquarters is sited.
Before the men of the state security services could comprehend what was amiss, six vehicles have been burnt, just as properties worth millions of naira were destroyed. Nine persons were reportedly killed and 20 others injured as the protest spread to Lagos Road end of the city.
Not yet satisfied, the streets of the Edo State capital were soon overtaken, as bonfires sprang up at major points, showing signs that all was not well in the state. Roads leading to the palace of the Benin monarch, Oba Erediauwa were blocked, while Chief John Adun (aka Bob Izua’s) two buses were destroyed.
Leading his supporters, Oshiomhole who was tear-gassed, arrested by the police but later released to his agitated supporters, vowed to continue the mass action until his mandate is returned.
As criticism from groups and individuals continue to trail the result, the Edo State Indigenes Forum (ESIF), allegedly backed by Oba Erediauwa, rising from an extra-ordinary meeting held in the heat of the wild protest on Monday, April 16, resolved to send a letter to INEC seeking a cancellation of the election.
Dissatisfied by the way his state was being turned into an ungovernable enclave, Governor Lucky Igbinedion imposed a dusk dawn curfew on the “Heart Beat to the Nation”.
While the ‘Heart Beat of the Nation’ rose frenetically, the “Salt of the Nation” was losing its taste as the electorate in Ebonyi State protested the results as announced by the state Resident Electoral Commissioner. Ohaozara, which used to be a peaceful community was to erupt in an orgy of violence. This led to the arrest of Dr. Ogbonnaya Onu, the ANPP gubernatorial candidate. Also arrested with Onu was the governorship candidate of the Progressive Peoples Alliance (PPA), Chief Harry Udeh, who like the ANPP candidate hails from Ohaozara local government. The Ebonyi State debacle saw the arrest of 62 persons, including three officials of INEC, while three firearms, 35-9.9mm, ammunitions, 30 carttridges were recovered from the suspects.
Before his arrest, the ANPP gubernatorial candidate issued a press statement rejecting the results of the elections as announced by the INEC in which Chief Martin Elechi of the PDP was declared the winner. Onu described the entire exercise “as a blatant rape on democracy and a colossal affront on the true will of the people as expressed through the ballot box.”
In Ohaozara, the spate of destruction was unprecedented as houses of prominent people including that of the caretaker committee chairman, Head of Service and that of the community’s traditional ruler, a filling station and so many vehicles and motor-bikes were destroyed. Confirming this, the state’s police boss, Adanya Gaya, said a Divisional Police Officer (DPO) and an electoral officer were abducted but later released by the rampaging demostrators.
Gaya, who described the Saturday polls as very peaceful said ballot boxes were snatched in only two places, while an army Sergent equally lost his rifle.
Meanwhile, Onu in a general reaction urged the people of the state to remain calm and peaceful.
For Delta State which has known relative peace for sometimes now, irate youths and supporters of Great Ogboru, the Democratic People’s Party (DPP)gubernatorial candidate, unleashed terror on Abraka, the home town of the politician. Using strong-arm tactics, the state government under the leadership of James Ibori allegedly made sure that election did not take place in the local government area.
The youths were to vent their anger on Evans Iwurie, Commissioner for Special Duties in Ibori’s cabinet. His country home, cars and other properties around the vicinity were torched. In fact, reports indicated that the commissioner, who is also from the locality, escaped by the hair’s breath. Recounting his experience, Iwurie said he only escaped with the shirt and short he was wearing. "My country home is gone. I built this house recently with all my life savings. Now, look at the remains of what used to be an edifice,” Iwurie lamented.
Interestingly, the commissioner is not the only one with a sad tale to tell concerning what elections should not be, as the home of Dr. Kingsley Okpako, a high ranking trado-medical practitioner popularly known as "Dr. Kings" felt the anger of the Abraka youths. His Toyota Jeep and other vehicles in the compound were not spared. Dr. Kings could not believe his eyes when his visitors, a man, his pregnant wife and kid – were killed.
While the home town of Ogboru boiled, Obiaruku in Ukwuani local government area, the home community of his deputy was not left out of the mob action. Also not spared were Okpe, Ethiope East, Uvwie and part of Warri town.
INEC offices in Ukwuani, Ughelli North and Okpe were reportedly set ablaze by irate youths over what they termed connivance with unnamed party officials to starve some areas of voting materials. By the time the violence subsided, 10 persons were confirmed dead, while many others have God to thank as they escaped the mayhem with only injuries. Not yet done, the youths decended on a State Assembly candidate from Ughelli who escaped with a stab on the back, while his vehicle which he abandoned was set ablaze.
The state REC, Ismaila Abdulkareem while confirming the violence said voting was immediately suspended in the areas.
While voting was said to be successful in Rivers State, reports indicated that some militants stormed a police station in Port Harcourt, killed all police officers on sight and set the place ablaze after raiding their amoury.
This was confirmed by the Chief observer of the European Union Election Observation Mission (EUEOM), Max Van den Berg, who described the situation as "pathetic."
Berg further noted that the grievance was against the ruling party, the PDP, which swept the polls in the state with a landslide victory.
Like in Port Harcourt, policemen became the target of protesting militants in Kano State. A police station was burnt and 12 policemen killed in the Monday, April 16 fracas. These were not the only casualties recorded in the state as three civilians were said to have lost their lives, vehicles burnt and houses set ablaze. Those targeted according to reports were houses of prominent ANPP stalwarts who escaped before the irate youths could get to them. And to forestall further violence, curfew was imposed between the hours of 8p.m and 7a.m.
Briefing newsmen, Commissioner of Police Kano State, Atiku Kafur, who was mourning the death of his officers said the measure was to forestall violence, following apprehension over the outcome of the elections.
While the ANPP stalwarts were feeling the heat in Kano following the breaking of the ‘first-term jinx’ by their candidate, Ibrahim Shekarau, their counterparts in Bauchi State had their hearts in their mouth as an upset was recorded. The party defeated the incumbent PDP government.
In the upset, the ANPP governorship candidate, Mallam Isa Yuguda, defeated the ruling PDP candidate, Umar Nadada, in the Saturday poll. This didn’t go down well with supporters of the PDP who unleashed terror in the once peaceful state. The INEC office was not spared by the thugs who had earlier besieged the place preventing electoral officers from entertaining results.
Notedly, a dusk-to-dawn curfew throughout the state, from 8pm to 7am daily was imposed. A statement signed by the Secretary to the State Government, Alhaji Shuaibu Ahmed, said the curfew became necessary following the deteriorating situation in the state over the elections.
“Even when the results are yet to be officially released, thugs have taken over the streets, carrying dangerous weapons and molesting innocent citizens. The INEC office was not spared by the same thugs who besieged the INEC office preventing electoral officers from entertaining results,” the statement released on Monday, April 15, said.
Ahmed expressed the fear that if such situation continued, violence of unimaginable proportions was likely to envelope the state.
In Kogi State, the announcement of the incumbent governor, Ibrahim Idris, as the winner of the Saturday poll, did not go down well with citizens of the state. Immediately the announcement was made, angry youths and women took to the streets, destroying properties on sight. Vehicles were burnt and 15 persons were reportedly feared dead.
Casualties in the Kogi State mayhem were notably stalwarts of the PDP who had their houses burnt to the ground, while their vehicles were not spared. One of the houses razed by the erring youths belong to the former chairman of Adavi local government area, Alhaji Farouk Abdulazees, a former chieftain of the AC. Also, many people who were suspected to have worked for the PDP were beaten to a pulp.
While imposing a dusk-to-dawn curfew, Idris in a state broadcast on Monday, April 16 warned that his administration will not condone violence. He urged politicians who felt dissatisfied with the outcome of the election to seek redress in the court of law.
Meanwhile, the Ondo State capital, Akure was not different from the situation in many parts of the country as the declaration of Olusegun Agagu, the incumbent governor and the PDP candidate for the gubernatorial elections sparked off an unprecedented violence only comparable with that of the Akin Omoboriowo years.
In Ondo town, several houses belonging to known PDP politicians were set ablaze. Their vehicles and properties were not spared as they felt the anger of the rampaging youths. Two houses belonging to Gbenga Oguniya, a two-term senator were burnt down. So also was his campaign office located along Ademulegun area of the city.
Also torched was a house said to belong to his father, along Barracks Road and another said to belong to his younger brother along the same road.
Notedly, the Ondo West local council secretariat along Ademulegun road as well as another storey building belonging to the father of a PDP House of Assembly candidate situated in front of the Action Congress (AC) secretariat, were torched. Also not spared were two houses belonging to PDP stalwarts in the Ajilo area of the state. Thirty vehicles either totally burnt down or destroyed, littered various locations in the state, with about 10 vehicles burnt down in an auto shop on Akure Road. It belonged to a PDP chieftain in the state.
However, the Ondo State orgy of violence was so dramatic, as no casualty was recorded, except for the shooting of two youths by soldiers along Oyemekun Road as they attempted to burn down the campaign office of Governor Agagu. Many PDP chieftains from the Okitipupa area of the state have reportedly fled their homes for fear of being attacked by the people.
Interestingly, women were not left out of the protest as they were sighted wearing their clothes inside out, chanting obscenities against the ruling PDP. The significance of the ‘inside out’ dress code according to one of them who volunteered comments, implied a bad omen for Governor Agagu.
Speaking in Yoruba, she said the thieving governor knows what it implies. We don’t want him. He should go. He did not win the election. Iroko (Olusegun Mimiko) won the Saturday poll and not what the INEC sponsored by the PDP government in Abuja gave to us.”
The people of the state were protesting the declaration of Agagu, the incumbent governor who contested under the PDP platform, winner of the elections. This is against the background that Mimiko, popularly known as Iroko, and a former minister in President Olusegun Obasanjo’s administration was alleged to have won the elections until it was manipulated. He contested under the Labour Party (LP) platform and is adjudged to be more popular than the incumbent governor. In fact, opinion polls conducted before the Saturday elections indicated that he may likely top the poll with a landslide victory.
This, reportedly gave the PDP camp a cause to worry as several attempts were made on his life. President Obasanjo while campaigning in the state, told the citizens not to vote for Iroko as his hands are not clean. “The Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) will soon come after him, the president jokingly told Ondo citizens. This elicited criticisms across the country as many requested the president to withdraw the comment.
Ironically, the election results of the state were not announced in Ondo State by the state REC; rather it was the Federal Radio Corporation of Nigeria, otherwise called FRCN, Abuja, in its 10am news announced that Agagu had won the polls even though it did not state the figures.
But Josiah Uwazuranyo, the state REC, swiftly faulted the announcement, saying the results were not authentic as he was the only person with the legal authority to make such declaration.
However, two hours later, Uwazuranyo in an announcement made through the state - owned radio and television stations, pronounced Agagu the winner. Sporadic gunshots enveloped Akure metropolis, while a pall of smoke covered virtually every street in the capital, Akure. As protesters made bonfires, the INEC state REC went underground for fear of his life.
In a swift reaction, Mimiko on Monday April 16, rejected the result and said he would claim his mandate through every legitimate means. In a statement entitled: “2007 gubernatorial election results in Ondo State: A Rejection,” he appealed to the good people of Ondo State to remain calm.
Coincidentally, the PDP government also in a statement on Monday, April 16, said the victory of Agagu was well deserved .
The Osun State government, ruffled by the massive protests in Ilesa and its environs, imposed a curfew on the area. Governor Olagunsoye Oyinlola who against every expectations was declared winner of the Saturday polls ordered the State Commissioner of Police Sulaiman Fakai to arrest Rauf Aregbesola who contested the Saturday polls against him under the platform of the AC.
About 10 persons have been reportedly killed, while no fewer than 15 houses were said to have been burnt. Irate youths made bonfires across major streets in the town. Notedly, a dusk-to-dawn curfew had been imposed on the state.
In Nasarawa State, about 10 persons were feared dead while carcasses of burnt cars littered major streets, over disagreements arising from the announcement of the Saturday, April 14 election results. The palace of the Areen Eggon was razed by the irate mob who were dissatisfied with the PDP victory, as announced by the state REC. A peugeot and two other cars parked at the palace were burnt down completely, while the traditional ruler fled for the fear of his life. So far like in every other states, armed soldiers have taken over the town.
– With reports by Goke Awoyemi