One person was shot dead today, 11 September, as hoodlums reportedly hijacked a bye-election in Isoko South State Constituency 1 of Delta State.
The State House of Assembly seat became vacant following the death of Hon. Kenneth Ogba in June this year.
Saturday’s shooting incident amidst the bye-election was recorded at Irri Ikpide community following misunderstandings among the electorates at one of the polling units.
According to Punch, witnesses said the incident occurred at about 3:15 pm when the armed hoodlums stormed Irri Ward 10, polling unit 5, to snatch away ballot papers used for the election.
The hoodlums who were reportedly armed with AK47 rifles shot sporadically into the air to scare away eligible voters before one of them shot directly at the victim for a reason that could not yet be ascertained.
Prior to the sad incident, the election had been relatively peaceful at the unit, witnesses said.
The bye-election had earlier in the day started on a shaky note at many polling units as the INEC newly introduced Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) for the poll was reportedly rejecting Permanent Voters Card (PVC) of eligible voters.
It was observed that the BVAS device which ought to simultaneously accredit voters with both fingerprints and photos to ensure the authenticity of the votes, was failing in some polling units across the constituency.
The bye-election is being contested by candidates of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Hon. Ovuakpoye Evivie; Comrade Michael Emumena Paul of the Social Democratic Party (SDP) and Dr. Ogaga Ifowodo of the All Progressives Congress (APC).
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