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Violence, intimidation, votes buying and ballot box snatching and smashing, marred today’s Lokoja/Kogi Federal Constituency bye election.
A thug died during a scuffle with some of the voters while trying to snatch ballot box at the NEPA polling unit.
According to Vanguard, the election which initially commenced peacefully as electoral materials and INEC staff arrived early however turned violent when some thugs invaded some of the voting units to cart away the ballot boxes.
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The newspaper reports further:
“Ballot box snatching was recorded in Paparanda Square, St Mary Primary school, Adankolo Primary School and Crowther Memorial College poling units, but not without resistance from the voters who only caved in after the hired thugs shot sporadically into the air.
“At St. Peter’s Primary School, Felele – Lokoja, it was an ‘open market’ for vote buying as some party paid N3,000 each to the voters.
“The modus operandi was for the voters after thumb printing the ballot paper to systematically show it to the desired party agent, who will afterwards give a tiny signed paper to the voters to go to the next room and exchange the paper for N3,000.
“All the intimidations, violence and votes buying occured in the presence of Policemen who seemed to have been compromised.”