Ekiti Elections: Three Caught With Ballot Papers, Army gives ‘shoot on sight’ order
By Salimot Raji
Nigeria Army authorities on Thursday gave a shoot on sight order in Ekiti State ahead of the June 21 governorship election.
Commander, 32 Artillery Brigade, Akure, Brig. Gen. Aliyu Momoh, revealed this order to journalists in Ado-Ekiti on Thursday while parading three men caught with ballot papers.
The men, Olufemi Ose, Akanbi Oluwasegun, Biodun Erinfolami, were arrested around 1.30pm with articulated truck loaded with ballot papers.
Gen. Momoh said he ordered his men to conduct a thorough search of the truck and discovered ballot papers of 2008, 2009 and 2011, reflective jacket and a 2014 stamp of INEC, adding, “You can’t say a 2014 is a waste material.”
Making reference to Sunday’s incident in Ado-Ekiti where a man claimed to be a supporter of All Progressives Congress died from a gunshot, Momoh said, “Those who are harbouring hoodlums, we will get them. I have given the order to my men that whosoever is caught with any offensive weapons against the state should be brought down. That is a strong message to everybody irrespective of political parties. We are neutral and we stand as such.”
Answering questions from journalists, one of the suspects, Olufemi Ose said he brought some consignment to Akure park where he was approached by a man to carry beans for him.
“I thought of using the money to buy fuel. When I got to the man, he said he had already got another vehicle to carry the beans but that he had papers to carry from INEC office in Ado-Ekiti.
“One motor loaded in INEC yesterday but my own was loaded today and I left after I got my waybill.”
Momoh said the Department of State Security Service had been invited to investigate the claims by the men in order to establish the truth.
The army boss, who refused to disclose where the men were arrested said his men were on ground and “waiting for more people to arrest.”
“Every material moving must be escorted by security agencies. Anything short of that my men will pick it up. We want to ensure the right things are done.”
Meanwhile, Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC has denied that the ballot papers were relevant to the June 21 governorship election.
The State Resident Electoral Commissioner, Alhaji Aliyu Pai, said the materials apprehended by the military were waste papers that had been auctioned to a company.
“It is approved by the National Commission for the company to evacuate the obsolete materials to enable us prepare for the coming election because these are junks that have filled the store.
“There is an approval by the National Commission. They are known to us and they are in no way connected to this election. They are materials of 2007, 2009 and there is approval for its evacuation.” He said while maintaining that the commission had no reason to provide police escort to the materials since they were not going to be used in the election.
“They won’t be used at all in anyway. It is unfortunate if anybody thinks we have been compromised.” And called on security agencies to conduct their investigation to establish the truth.