Late last week, a gory video showing two freshly murdered corpses, which a narrator identified as an official of the Independent National Electoral Commission, (INEC), and his police orderly murdered by some unknown gunmen working to ensure that Saturday’s governorship election in Anambra State doesn’t hold, went viral on social media.
The video, along with another one of a certain self-declared General Innocent Orji, leader of a new armed separatist group, Biafra National Guard, (BNG), announcing that in line with the declaration of the detained leader of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra, (IPOB), the Anambra poll cannot be allowed to hold.
Days before the election, its fate is ever more uncertain as gunmen whose long-stated objective is to ensure that the people of the State do not elect new leadership has declared war against security agencies and intending voters, in what is a security challenge assuming worrying dimensions in the country’s South-East region, where the ever-present agitation a separate state of Biafra has grown increasingly violent.
It’s an unfolding mayhem. Only last week, at least eight people were killed in the state, following confrontations between soldiers and the said gunmen. The brutal murder, some weeks back, of Dr. Chike Akunyili, husband of the Late Prof Dora Akunyili, brought more attention to what had been weeks of series of killings in the State as gunmen, comprising of cult groups, pro-Biafra agitators and political thugs continue to unleash mayhem.
With this coming Saturday’s election in view, pro-Biafra militants, who are determined to ensure that the election does not hold, have declared war against just anyone seen to be working to ensure that the polls hold, including politicians, officials of INEC and security agencies, who have continued to respond in kind.
The atmosphere is ever more intense and many residents of the State say they’d rather stay indoors than take the risk of being killed trying to vote on election day. In Awka, many people spoken to say they would rather stay away from the polling booths than risk being killed by gunmen.
A fortnight ago,
IPOB, through its spokesman, Emma Powerful, threatened to lock down the entire Southeast for one week, from November 5, a day to the election, if President Muhammadu Buhari does not release its leader, Kanu from the custody of the Department of State Services, (DSS), on or before November 4, in an apparent attempt to use the election as a bargaining chip.
Since the group began declaring sit-at-home protest following the arrest of Kanu, its foot soldiers have been ruthlessly enforcing same, compelling residents to stay at home every Monday, even when its leadership had repeatedly cancelled the Monday sit-at-home directive. Many have been attacked; sometimes murdered, and numerous businesses have been destroyed by hoodlums enforcing the sit-at-home order.
The proscribed group has particularly warned Anambra residents not to risk going out during the order, which many say they will obey despite the heavy deployment of security agencies by the federal government for the election.
At a special consultative meeting with political parties in Abuja on Friday, INEC Chairman, Prof. Mahmood Yakubu, had assured that the election will hold as planned, but that the Commission will not be deploying electoral materials and personnel in 86 of the 5,720 polling units, as there are yet no registered voters at the affected units.
Over the past few days, the Inspector General of Police, IGP Usman Alkali Baba, has adopted a series of security measures to ensure that the election is held despite the threat posed by the rampaging gunmen.
Last week, the IGP deployed selected seasoned Strategic Commanders from the rank of Assistant Commissioner of Police and above to the state for effective supervision of security personnel and operations during the elections.
Similarly, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, (NSCDC), deployed 20, 000 officers and men to complement sister-security agencies, while troops of the 82 Division, Nigeria Army currently conducting Exercise Golden Dawn in the state and rest of the Southeast, are battling to contain rampaging gunmen.
However, residents say they have not seen enough to convince them that it would be safe to step out on Saturday.
Recall that early last month, following the killing of Dr. Akunyili, among others, the Attorney General and Minister of Justice, Abubakar Malami, threatened that a state of emergency could be a possibility in the state, a threat which triggered generated outrage, forcing the government to back-track.
President Buhari has since directed the Armed Forces and other security agencies to ensure that nothing stops the election, and with the effort being put in place by INEC, the election is certain to hold. However, voter apathy is expected to greet the polls, which for many, will play into the hands of the country’s party, the All Progressive Congress, (APC).
Indeed, the party’s candidate, Senator Andy Uba, despite being unpopular among the electorate, is now considered very much a front-runner, with the potential to put an end to the almost two decades rule of the All Progressive Grand Alliance, (APGA), in the State.
The threat of violence could be the major deciding factor. Candidates had been forced to suspend campaigns, and while APGA’s candidate, former governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, (CBN), had stood out as the favorite candidate and the most likely to win, as shown by a survey by newsmen, followed by PDP’s Valentine Ozigbo, the outcome of the election may ultimately be decided by the other intervening variables rather than the popularity of candidates.
