Four persons including one policeman have reportedly died in an attack on the headquarters of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) along Port Harcourt Road in Owerri, Imo State.
Confirming this on Monday, the spokesman of the Imo State Police Command, Mike Abattam, said the gunmen, numbering over 10, came around 3am with petrol bombs and dynamite.
He, however, disclosed that the attack was repelled by police operatives who killed three of the attackers.
Abattam said that one of the attackers was arrested by the police while three vehicles used by the hoodlums were recovered, adding that some parts of the building on the INEC premises were razed.
There have been increasing cases of attacks on INEC offices across the country as the 2023 elections draw nearer.
Before Monday’s attack, two other attacks have been recorded in the state, precisely in the Oru West Local Government Area and in the Orlu Local Government Area.
Similarly, the INEC office in the Izzi Local Government Area of Ebonyi State was set on fire by hoodlums last month, just as the offices of the commission in Osun and Ogun states were also attacked by gunmen, while several Permanent Voters’ Cards (PVCs) and other electoral items were destroyed in these attacks.
