By DADA AYOKHAI
One of the fallouts of the just concluded Edo governorship election was the attack carried out on the local government collation centre in Auchi by suspected political thugs
The attack occurred in the early hours of Sunday, September 22, and was said to have disrupted the ongoing collation of election results within the precincts of the Etsako West council headquarters
Eyewitness reports, later corroborated by media reports, disclosed that the heavily armed political thugs stormed the venue of the collation with the sole purpose of disrupting the process
The vice chairman of the local government, Hon Benjamin Ojietu, INEC adhoc staff, election observers and security personnel were among those injured
Some of the witnesses at the scene believe the thugs belonged to one of the political parties involved in the election, with the opposition APC being linked with the attack
The thugs allegedly stole sensitive election materials, especially the form EC8A which contained the results scored by each of the political parties
In response to this unfortunate event, the council chairman of Etsako West, Hon Marvellous Muhizu Zibiri, released a press statement strongly condemning the attack.
He attributed the assault to the opposition APC and urged law enforcement agencies to apprehend the perpetrators to prevent future violence.
Hon Zibiri emphasized the sanctity of the democratic process and highlighted the need to uphold democracy and the will of the people.
Efforts are being made to ensure that those injured during the invasion of the collation centre receive the necessary medical treatment.
Hon Ojietu and others are said to be responding well to treatment
