The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has reacted to the attack by unknown gunmen in the early hours of Monday, December 12, 2022, on its headquarters in Owerri, Imo State.
This marks the third such attack on INEC facilities in the state in the last two months, following attacks on the Orlu LGA office on December 1 and the Oru West LGA office on December 4.
Barrister Festus Okoye, National Commissioner and Chairman of the Information and Voter Education Committee, issued a statement condemning the attack.
Okoye said the INEC resident commissioner in Imo, Sylvia Uchenna Agu, confirmed the attack occurred at around 3:00am and affected the part of the building occupied by the Election and Party Monitoring (EPM) department. Fortunately, no critical election materials were destroyed and no lives were lost.
The statement reads, “The response of the security and emergency services (the Fire Service) curtailed further damage to the building and other assets of the Commission. No critical election materials were destroyed. There were also no casualties involving staff of the Commission.
“This is the third attack on the Commission’s facilities in Imo State in less than two weeks following the earlier attacks on our Orlu LGA office on Thursday 1st December 2022 and Oru West LGA office on Sunday 4th December 2022.
“Our Imo State Headqurters is located in the centre of the Owerri, the State capital, between a court and the State secretariat. This is therefore yet another systematic attack targeted at the Commission’s assets across the country, more so on the day that the collection of Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) commences nationwide ahead of the 2023 General Election.”
