A middle-aged man was arrested with about 25 Permanent Voters Card (PVCs) at Ugo in Orhionmwon Local Government Area of the state.
The man was alleged to have been luring people by telling them that whosoever submits his/her PVC would be given a N200,000 empowerment loan. A resident of the area, who was involved in the arrest of the suspect, said: “This morning, we got information that one boy was collecting PVCs from some people. We then decided to look for the boy. We were able to locate him as he was tracked to his house and 25 PVCs were found with him. The boy said he was asked to do so by some of his leaders in Ugo.
He said he was told that anyone who surrendered his card will be given a loan worth of N200,000. “That motivated the people to give out their cards. We then took the boy to the police station at Ugo. They had earlier warned him to stop what he was doing but he did not listen.” Edo State Police Commissioner, Mr. Chris Ezike, confirmed the arrest pointing out that the suspect would be moved and the case transferred to the headquarters of the state police command in Benin.
He, however, said: “The information I received was that he was caught with 10 PVC s. I have instructed that the matter be transferred to the state headquarters. We have advised all to play by the rules Spokesperson for INEC in the state, Mrs. Priscillia Sule, who neither confirmed nor denied the incident, promised to contact the officials in charge of the area for details.
