Electoral materials were destroyed in the latest fire incident involving an office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), this time in Abia State.
The commission announced in a statement on Monday, May 10, 2021 that the office in Ohafia local government area of Abia was torched on Sunday, May 9.
The state’s Resident Electoral Commissioner, Dr Joseph Iloh, reported that the office was recently renovated by the commission.
No member of staff was injured as a result of the incident, but the building was completely destroyed.
“Apart from furniture items, all electoral materials and office equipment were destroyed,” INEC said.
The commission said it has reported the latest incident of arson to the Police.
The incident follows a string of similar attacks on INEC buildings with the most recent one happening last week in Akwa Ibom State where an office was also set on fire, damaging electoral materials.
Sensitive materials were also destroyed at an INEC data processing centre in Kano in April, but no foul play was suspected.
INEC said on Monday that an emergency meeting of the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security (ICCES) will be held next week to discuss the disturbing trend of attacks.
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