• As APC calls for arrest of SDP candidate
From Emmanuel Adeyemi, Lokoja
Some gunmen in the early hours of Friday allegedly attacked the residence of the Kogi State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Professor Gabriel Longpet shooting sporadically and burning some vehicles
This was made known in a statement issued by the electoral body on Friday.
According to the statement, the incident occurred about 3am on Friday morning.
The statement said the armed men engaged the security personnel in a gun battle for over 30 minutes until reinforcement arrived.
“While no lives were lost, property was destroyed in the ensuing gun battle. A team of combined security personnel have been deployed to protect the residence. This incident occurred a day after a mob besieged our state office.
“We call for a thorough investigation and enhanced security protection for our personnel and assets in Kogi State.” the statement added
Meanwhile, the APC has called for the immediate arrest of the SDP candidate, Muritala Yakubu Ajaka, over the attack, saying it was an assassination attempt carried out by the SDP thugs.
Addressing newsmen on Friday, the spokesman of the Kogi State All Progressives Congress Governorship Campaign Council, Kingsley Fanwo called on the Police, Department of State Services and other security agencies to immediately arrest what it described as the slide to anarchy in the state
The APC Campaign Council said the attack was perpetrated days after it alerted the nation of the plans of SDP thugs to attack INEC, adding that “they have finally done their worst by attacking the residence of the Kogi State INEC Commissioner, engaging security agents in a fierce gun battle and eventually burning down some vehicles in the residence and in the area.”
According to Fanwo, “the same arsonists also had an attempt to burn down the Kogi State Government House foiled by our eagle-eye security agents. The same attempt was foiled at the State APC Secretariat in Lokoja.”
According to the APC, the SDP in the state and their collaborators are desperate to destroy some documents in INEC to cover the heist they committed in Kogi East where they allegedly killed APC supporters “and drove them out of collation centres to forge the results that were eventually trumped by the massive votes of Kogites for the Governor-Elect.
“The reason they are desperate to destroy some documents in INEC is to cover the heist they committed in Kogi East where they killed APC supporters and drove them out of collation centres to forge the results that were eventually trumped by the massive votes of Kogites for the Governor-Elect. They are attempting to corrupt certain documents in INEC before handing them to their legal team. We have no problem allowing legal teams to access documents and materials. It is the norm. But we won’t allow any desperate blood thirsty politician tamper with the true verdict of the Kogi people,” Fanwo declared.