The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) revealed yesterday that 41 of its offices have been attacked in 14 states since 2019.
Its chairman, Prof Mahmood Yakubu, said this during an emergency meeting of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) at the commission’s headquarters in Abuja.
He said a preliminary assessment indicates that 1,105 ballot boxes, 694 voting cubicles, 429 electric generating sets and 13 utility vehicles (Toyota Hilux) were lost in the attacks.
Yakubu said: “In the last two years, the Commission has recorded a total of 41 incidents involving deliberate attacks on the Commission’s facilities.
“Nine of these incidents happened in 2019 and 21 cases in 2020. In the last four weeks, 11 offices of the Commission were either set ablaze or vandalised.
“Two of these incidents were caused by Boko Haram and bandit attacks while 10 resulted from thuggery during the election and post-election violence.
“However, the majority of the attacks (29 out of 41) were unrelated to election or electoral activities. In fact, 18 of them occurred during the EndSARS protests in October last year while 11 attacks were organised by ‘unknown gunmen’ and ‘hoodlums’.
“Although the Commission is assessing loss of materials during recent attacks, our preliminary assessment so far indicates that we lost 1,105 ballot boxes, 694 voting cubicles, 429 electric generating sets and 13 utility vehicles (Toyota Hilux).
“By working together with the security agencies, we can stop these attacks and the wanton destruction of critical electoral assets.”
Yakubu reiterated his warning that the attacks could threaten future elections if not checked.
