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There are reports traders being attacked in Lagos and Ibadan, and beng compelled to vote for a particular political party during the March 9 governorship and State House of Assembly elections.
Accordimg to reports, on Thursday morning, the armed thugs forced on Lagos Island traders to close their shops as punishment for not voting their preferred candidate during last Saturday’s Presidential and National Assembly elections in the state.
Policemen were however drafted to the area to restore calm.
There was a similar report in Ibadan where Vanguard reports that some traders who are non-indigenes are allegedly being compelled to swear an oath to vote for the APC in the March 9 elections, or lose their shops.
A female trader who spoke with Vanguard on the condition of anonymity, disclosed that they were being told that they would only be allowed to continue doing business on the condition that they swore to an oath secretly that they would vote for candidates of the APC.
The newspaper also reported that on Wednesday, thugs attacked some non-indigene traders on the Lagos Island over accusation that they did not vote for President Buhari in Saturday’s election.
The report said: “The miscreants, who were armed with dangerous weapons such as cutlasses, broken bottles, woods and knives, struck at about 9.am at five streets: Oluwole, Nnamdi Azikiwe, Tinubu, Bamgbose and Alli streets, taking the traders unawares.
“They ordered that shops belonging to the Igbos should remain locked, threatening to kill anyone who violated their order.
“When news of the attack filtered round other markets in the state dominated by the Igbos, most of them hurriedly locked up for fear of being entangle in any likely spread of the attack.
The Lagos State Government, through the Commissioner for Information and Strategy, Kehinde Bamigbetan, has however urged Lagosians, particularly non-indigenes to remain calm, assuring that adequate security had been put in place to ensure protection of lives and property of all citizens.
In last Saturday’s presidential election, the PDP, scoring 366,720 votes, narrowly beat the ruling APC in Oyo State which scored 365,230 votes.
In Lagos, the APC scored 580,825 votes while the PDP scored 366,720 votes. Many believe that the PDP could have scored higher if some voters were not attacked in some areas believed to be PDP strongholds. There are videos and photos of thugs chasing voters away and burning already tbumb-printed ballot papers in Okota.