Unknown gunmen attack INEC Imo office

Unknown gunmen in the early hours of Monday attacked the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters in Owerri, Imo State.

Festus Okoye, INEC national commissioner and chairman, information and voter education committee, disclosed this in a statement issued in Abuja on Monday.

Okoye said the attack affected a part of the building occupied by the Election and Party Monitoring (EPM) department and one official utility vehicle (a Toyota Hilux pickup van) was burnt.

“The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) for Imo State, Sylvia Uchenna Agu, has reported that our state headquarters office in Owerri was attacked by unknown gunmen. The incident occurred at about 3.00am today Monday December 12, 2022.

“The response of the security and emergency services (the fire service) curtailed further damage to the building and other assets of the commission. No critical election materials were destroyed. There were also no casualties involving staff of the commission.

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“This is the third attack on the commission’s facilities in Imo State in less than two weeks following the earlier attacks on our Orlu LGA office on Thursday, December 1, 2022 and Oru West LGA office on Sunday, December 4, 2022.

“Our Imo State headquarters is located in the centre of Owerri, the state capital, between a court and the state secretariat.

“This is, therefore, yet another systematic attack targeted at the commission’s assets across the country, more so on the day that the collection of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) commences nationwide ahead of the 2023 general election,” the statement read.