From Ighomuaye Lucky, Benin
Hoodlums suspected to be political thugs yesterday stormed the Internally Displaced Persons camp in Edo state in a commando-like manner and disrupted the state House of Assembly’s election.
It was gathered that the hoodlums stormed the camp located at Uhogua community in Ovia South West Local Government Area of the state about 30 minute after the election started, shooting sporadically and chased voters away from the polling unit.
It was learnt that the hoodlums after chasing voters away, destroyed some election materials, and made away with the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS).
The voters were said to have scampered for safety to avoid being hit by stray bullet.
A witness who spoke to newsmen, said It was just like a war zone in the camp.
He said as the people gathered to vote, gunmen stormed the camp with their vehicles and started shooting sporadically and the people ran into the bush for safety.
“The hoodlums went for the ballot boxes, papers, BVAS and carried everything away. Many people lost their Permanent Voters Cards in the process”.
He lamented that there was no security presence during the attack
When contacted, the coordinator of the camp, Pastor Folorusho Solomon, confirmed the incident, saying election did not hold in the area as a result of the incident.
He however said he didn’t know who actually carried out the attack.