Voting disrupted, electoral materials carted away during Enugu senatorial poll

Voting exercise was on Saturday disrupted in some Polling Units during the bye-election held across Enugu North Senatorial District.

At Ogwu Polling Unit in Obollo-Afor, Udenu Local Government Area, electoral materials, including a Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS), were reportedly carted away by suspected political thugs carted away.

One of the presiding officers, who is a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC), told journalists that the attackers stormed the Polling Unit at noon, firing gunshots into the air, just as they seized all electoral materials and fled the scene.

Residents of the area alleged that some highly placed individuals from the community was behind the attack, although no official evidence had been presented to support the claim at the time of filing this report.

Tension escalated when Ifeanyi Ossai, Deputy Governor of Enugu State and several other Government officials arrived at the Polling Unit.

Supporters of the People’s Democratic Party (PDP) openly accused them of instigating the violence, leading to heated exchanges at the scene.

Security personnel were later deployed to the area but were unable to immediately resolve the situation or recover the missing materials.

Ifeanyi Ossai, deputy governor, while speaking with journalists after assessing the situation, described the incident as an isolated case, noting that the affected Polling Unit was the only location where violence had been reported.

He expressed confidence that the electoral process would continue peacefully in other parts of the State.

Meanwhile, electoral authorities and security agencies are expected to investigate the incident and determine those responsible for the disruption.