A total of 43 offices and facilities belonging to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) across the country have been attacked in the last two years.
This followed another attack on the electoral body’s facility in Awgu local government area of Enugu State on Sunday morning by unknown attackers.
The latest attack is coming barely four months after arsonists razed INEC, headquarters at Igbo-Eze South local government area of the same state.
INEC chairman, Mahmood Yakubu had in June at the 2021 annual Abubakar Momoh memorial lecture disclosed that 42 offices and facilities of the commission across the nation had been attacked since the 2019 general election.
While the commission may still be recovering from the attacks on its offices, the Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Enugu State, Emeka Ononamadu said the Sunday’s attack caused extensive damage to mainly the stores section where election materials were kept.
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INEC national commissioner and chairman, information and voter education committee, Festus Okoye in a statement, however, said all movable election materials had been evacuated following recent attacks on the commission’s offices in the state and there were no casualties in the incident.
Okoye stated that the identity or motives of attackers were unknown while the incident has been reported to the Nigeria Police Force for investigation.
“The commission appreciates the prompt response of the security agencies comprising the Nigeria Police Force, the Nigerian Army, the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) as well the Enugu State Fire Service and the Awgu local government Neighbourhood Watch”, he said.
Ethiopian Airline resumes flight to Enugu Oct. 1
The Ethiopian Airline said on Sunday it would resume flights to Enugu from October 1, two years after it suspended flight to the South-eastern state.
The general manager of the airline, Shimeles Arage, who confirmed the proposed resumption in a statement issued in Lagos on Sunday, said every week there would be a flight on Wednesday, Friday and Saturday, with B787 Dreamliner.
“October 1 is Nigeria’s Independence Day and the flight to Enugu on that day will reinforce Ethiopian Airline good relations with Nigeria since the first flight to Nigeria in 1960,” he said.
Arage recalled that the airline stopped flights to Enugu in 2019 when the Nigerian aviation authorities closed the airport to refurbish the runway.
He said before the closure of the airport for runway repairs, Ethiopian was the only international airline flying to Enugu.
The airport was officially re-opened to domestic flights in 2020 and to international flights in August 2021. NAN
