For the second time in about two days, the Nigerian Army has insisted that the 2015 governorship election did not hold in Rivers State, contrary to the claims of INEC chairman in the state.
The chief of army staff who sent three army officers to testify at the Rivers State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal sitting in Abuja maintained that election did not hold in virtually all polling centres assigned to them to provide security.
The army officers, who led different deployments on the orders of the Nigerian Army, said thugs carted away the election materials after the would-be voters had been scared away with gunshots.
The officers who covered different LGAs for the army are Captain Abubakar Mohammed from Bonny Camp, Lagos, Captain Fred Bala from Maiduguri and Captain Isa Al-Makura.
Al-Makura, who covered Ikwerri local government along with 30 other soldiers, claimed that the entire council was tense right from April 10 when his team arrived the area to provide security for voters.
He told Justice Suleman Ambrosa that sporadic gunshots were fired in major towns of the council, hence the voters got scared and stayed away from voting.
He said that at a time, his team got confused over the bombardment of phone calls from the ad hoc staff of INEC who were shouting for help and rescue from the thugs that invaded their polling units.
He added that on arrival at the polling units in Osuala, Onuerelu, Omerelu and Alu, the INEC ad hoc staff, mainly corps members, were found mercilessly beaten by the thugs.
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