From Judex Okoro, Calabar
Political thugs and hoodlums suspected to have been led by the All Progressives Congress(APC) members invaded INEC collation center for the Ogoja State Constituency, disrupting on-going collation and results announcement.
The thugs numbering about 30 stormed the INEC office at 2:15 am on Sunday and also destroyed lourvers, election materials, carted away phones as well as beat up many ward collation officers.
Eyewitnesses at the collation centre said trouble started when results from Nkum Irede ward was announced and the figures did not go down well with the APC agents, who sensing massive defeat, quickly raise the alarm and called their supporters to invade the collation centre.
According to the witness, the Nkum Irede ward result was the seventh out of the ten political wards in Ogoja local government area where PDP was clearly coasting to victory.
Speaking with some election observers at the Police Clinic Ogoja, on o the victims, Dr Paul Bassey Inyang,who was the Collation officers for Mbube East one, thanked God for sparing his life from the over thirty thugs and said he is recuperating from the injuries inflicted on him by the invaders.
He said his laptop and duplicate result sheets were  all destroyed.
He disclosed that one of his colleagues, Dr. Inyañg, is stil at the theatre  unit, praying he comes out alive as heavy stones and planks were used on him.
Confirming the incident, the Electoral Officer for Ogoja local government area, Mr Peter Kolo, said the hoodlums broke all security barriers to disrupt collation with the intent to destroy election results.
“As I talk to you, we have recovered all the results from both the BIVAS and uploaded results in the portal and we will soon resume announcing results from the three remaining wards.”
Also corroborating ,the Ogoja State constituency collation officers, Dr Timothy Ellah, University of Calabar, said: “I was beaten  by thugs and they carted  away some result sheets  with minor injuries sustained.
“We have however recovered all the results and we are ready to to resume announcing the results. But wear still afraid.”
Prof. John Undie ,the Governorship Collation Officers for Ogoja Local Government said they are lucky to have survived the attack ,emphasising that every one inside the hall was beaten mercelessly which pointed out that they were hell bent to subvert the will of the people.
Confirming the incident, the Cross River State Police Command PRO, Irene Ugbo, said many of the suspected thugs have been arrested and currently been profiled to ascertain the level of each of the arrested  person’s involvement in the attack.
Recall that 7 vehicles belonging to Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) were burnt by thugs at Odukpani axis of Southern senatorial district while a middle-aged man, identified as Joe, was shot dead yesterday by soldiers. Joe was allegedly disrupting election processes.