Hoodlums have set fire to the Independent National Electoral Commission’s office in the Igboeze North Local Government Area of Enugu State.
The attack on the office occurred at 11:48 p.m. on Sunday, July 3, 2022, according to a statement made public on Monday and signed by Festus Okoye, National Commissioner for INEC’s Information and Voter Education Committee.
According to the press statement, the arsonists overcame the security guards in charge of the commission’s office, forced their way inside, and then set fire to the structure.
The commission noted that 748 ballot boxes, 240 voting booths, office furniture, and equipment were all damaged by the arsonists despite the fact that no injuries were reported during the attack.
The statement titled, ‘Attack on INEC office in Enugu State’, partly read, “The Resident Electoral Commissioner for Enugu State, M. Emeka Onanamadu, reported that our Igboeze North Local Government Area office was set ablaze by unknown arsonists. The attack happened at 11:48pm on Sunday 3rd July 2022.
“The arsonists overpowered the security guards, forced their way into the premises and set the building ablaze. Although no casualties were reported, 48 ballot boxes, 240 voting cubicles, office furniture and equipment were destroyed in spite of the best effort of the Enugu State Fire Service deployed from Nsukka.”
The Permanent Voter Cards that were locked up in the fireproof cabinet cabinet in the burnt office had not yet been determined, according to INEC at the time of the press release.
“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.”
The commission bemoaned the timing of the incident, which occurred “in the middle of the voter registration excercise,” even though it claimed to have reported it to the Nigeria Police Force.
According to the statement, in May 2021, the commission’s offices in the Igboeze South and Udeni Local Government Areas, as well as the Enugu State Headquarters, all came under similar attack.
