From Stanley Uzoaru, Owerri
The Imo State chapter of the Peoples Democratic Party(PDP) has condemned the manhandling of its party agents at Aboh Mbaise by thugs and suspected supporters of the ruling party.
Briefing newsmen on Sunday,the Local Government Area chairman of the party,Maxwell Nnabuihe also lamented that the PDP candidate for Aboh Mbaise,Princewill Amuchie was also brutalised by the thugs and some security agents allegedly working for the opposition party.
Nnabuihe claimed that the thugs pounced on his members,including another assistant collation agent of the ward,Ben Chilaka over their refusal to allow them snatch electoral materials.
Also candidate of the party,Amuchie narrating the incident in a joint briefing with the PDP chairman noted that the election which started smoothly was almost being concluded when the thugs and security agents invaded the polling unit,shooting sporadically to scare the voters away.
“At the Local Government Collation Centre,where the results were being brought in,the APC stalwarts in the area wanted to smuggle in a result already written by them which they came with.
” This attempt was stoutly resisted by all the party agents on ground . When they were not having their way,media aide to candidate of their party reached to one of the government appointees who instructed the thugs to cart away the electoral materials.
“They came with 15 Hilux vans and started shooting in the air to scare people away,some people ran way,when they saw that my party agent ,Mike Ihenetu was not scared by their shooting,they molested him like a common criminal and later carted away the electoral materials and declared their candidate, Eddie Obinna winner”.
Amuchie however asserted that out of the 208 polling booths where election were conducted ,results of 183 polling units have been uploaded in the IREV and views by the voters before they snatched the materials.
He said ” We have it on good records that the remaining 25 polling booths where the results have not been uploaded are rewritten. I’m therefore praying that I be immediately declared winner because from all the results sheets available to us ,I won my closest rival Eddie Obinna.