INEC driver beaten to stupor by Mob for ‘diverting’ election materials

www.odogwublog.com reports that providence saved a driver with the Independent

National Electoral Commission in Delta State was beaten to a pulp on Thursday in Asaba by a mob that alleged that he was diverting election materials.

The driver had just left the Central Bank of Nigeria premises with an INEC pick-up van after loading election materials for Ethiope East and West when the mob stopped him for allegedly diverting from the route other drivers had taken.

The suspicion was heightened when the mob could not find any police escort with the driver while he could also not give satisfactory explanation for his “action.”

The mob immediately descended on the driver, pulled him out of the van and forced the booth open. They ransacked the materials, spilling the content of the vehicle on the floor.

By the time the police arrived the scene, the driver had been bloodied. The police managed to gather the scattered materials and load them back into the van.

The driver later explained that he had not followed the route other vans were following because he wanted to fuel the van.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Aniedi Ikiowak, who confirmed the incident, said he would investigate the matter.

Meanwhile, INEC said it is fully set for the governorship and state House of Assembly elections.

Ikiowak said the shortcomings noticed during the March 28 presidential and National Assembly elections had been reviewed and would be corrected in the April 11 election.

He said because of the disappointment the commission had with the National Union of Road Transport Workers in the last elections, it had decided to make fresh arrangements directly with bus owners to transport men and materials to the RACs and polling units on election day.

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