HomePoliticsArmy, Others Deployed To INEC Offices In Imo Over Attacks

Army, Others Deployed To INEC Offices In Imo Over Attacks

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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has disclosed that security personnel, including the Army and Department of State Services (DSS), have been deployed to its offices in Imo State, following the surge in attacks on its offices in the state.

The Eastern Updates reports that this is coming barely 24 hours after hoodlums attacked and vandalised the INEC office in the Isu Local Government Area (LGA), marking the fourth of such incidents in Imo in less than three weeks. Other attacks were recorded in the Orlu and Oru West LGAs as well as the state headquarters in Owerri.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in the state, Prof. Sylvia Agu addressed the security crisis during a live appearance on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily on Friday which was monitored by The Eastern Updates.

‘Security men have been deployed, stationed in those areas. At the headquarters, we have the army, the Civil Defence, and the DSS. In the various local governments, we are using vigilante groups; we are using Ebubeagu group too and we have 100 percent assurance from the security men – not just giving us the assurance, they are already on the ground,” she said.

‘That particular building is one housing the election party monitoring department (EPM), security, the transport office, and some of the building of the account (sic). It’s very destructive, but we thank God because it did not affect our sensitive materials.’

Read Also: 2023: Your Votes Will Count, INEC Assures Imo Electorate

Commenting on the implications of INEC’s operations in the state, Agu downplayed the severity of the attacks, noting that the commission had backups to ensure it did not suffer a significant loss of data.

“It’s really not enormous, because we have a backup for the accounts section. For the transport section, we don’t have much there. What we have there are pieces of furniture. For the EPM office, we have a backup. For all those things that got burnt, we have backups.

‘For the security office, (there was) nothing serious. We are aware that we’re vulnerable and because of that, we normally create backups in case of those types of incidents, so that when it happens, we can always lay (our) hands on our backups,’ she said.

The REC stated that permanent voter cards (PVCs) and other sensitive materials were not affected, adding that the distribution of PVCs was on schedule. According to her, distribution does not occur at the offices that have come under attack.

The Eastern Updates

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