Ekiti, Ondo and Osun have been listed among 15 states most vulnerable to electoral violence in Nigeria, by the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA.
The Head of Ekiti Operations Office, Saheed Akiode, stated this on Friday at a one day workshop on “Electoral Violence in Nigeria: Preparedness, Mitigation and Response Strategies”, in Ado Ekiti, the state capital.
“Apart from the fact that this phenomenon affects the credibility of the electoral system, the democratic system and the rule of law, the nature, extent and magnitude of violence and rigging associated with elections in Nigeria had assumed alarming proportions.
“This has therefore necessitated the need to organise this stakeholders forum to create awareness and test the level of preparedness in order to arrive at a seasonable mitigation measures towards reducing the impacts”, he said.
The workshop drew participants from Ondo, Osun and Ekiti States.
In his remarks, the President, Nigeria Supreme Council for Islamic Affairs, Ekiti State chapter, Yaqub Sanni, urged politicians and electoral officials to have the fear of God.
“If there is fear of God, nobody will use other children as thugs. The security agencies will not support one political party against the other. There is a day of reckoning; everybody will give an account”, he said.
Delivering a paper during the technical session, the Chairman, Nigerian Bar Association, Ikole Ekiti, Mr. Ademola Adeyemi, called for deployment of security forces to areas that have history of electoral violence.
Mr. Adeyemi also called for intensive training of electoral staff and strict enforcement of electoral laws by prosecuting offenders.
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