Apathy, Violence, Low Voters Turn Out Witnessed In Edo Polls

The Edo State House of Assembly election held Saturday, March 18, 2023 across the state was characterized by fights, chaos, violence and marred by high apathy resulting in low voter turn-out.
A visit by National Point correspondent to the Garrick Memorial Secondary along Ekenwan Road, Agbado Primary School, Emokpae Primary School and several other polling centres, all in the Edo State capital, showed the turn-out of potential voters was dismal unlike in the February 25 Presidential/National Assembly elections where there were long queues.
Also, low voter turnout was observed at Emokpae Primary School, Oredo 4, Units 19-28; Oba Market, Ward 4, Units 1 to 6; Garrick Memorial College, Ward 1, Units 6 to 12, all of Oredo Local Government Area of ​​the State and Ward 7, Ward 1 to 59 in Ikpoba-Okha Local Government Area all in Benin City.
All strategic locations in Benin City were under heavy security as joint security agents, with Army officers searched vehicles carrying out important duties.
Some of the units visited were Oredo and Ikpoba-Okha in Benin City, the ad hoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, came early but the turnout was poor. Many of the voters attributed the apathy to a lower-than-expected presidential election result, while some attributed the low voter turnout to voter intimidation by key stakeholders.
At Emokpae Primary School, Oredo Ward 4, Ward 19 to 28, findings revealed that voters were intimidated by a political party at the school gate.
The political thugs allegedly demanded that any member of the unit who was not going to vote for a particular party should leave the area, preventing many from voting for the candidate of their choice.
Chatting with National Point, a member of a Civil Society Organization in the state who did not want to be named for security reasons, confirmed that many eligible voters were intimidated and prevented from voting at Emokpae Primary School.
“Yes, you can see that many people sitting here did not vote. They were asked not to vote if they know they are not voting for PDP. But I have voted because I know how to act in this situation,” he said.
Information collated from several polling units, both in other parts of Edo South, Central and South Senatorial districts, indicated low turnout and apathy of voters even as the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) worked well.
There were unconfirmed reports of vote buying by some of the political parties in Benin city in a desperate attempt at turning the table against a resurgent Labour Party (LP) which upstaged the two main parties- the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and the main opposition People’s Democratic Party (PDP).
Former Edo State Governor Adams Oshiomohle accused security agencies of colluding with the local vigilantes to unleash mayhem, terror and snatch ballot boxes in the flashpoint small town of Sobe, Owan West Local Government Area in favour of one of the candidates.
There was violence at the Internally Displaced Persons Camp, Uhoghua Ovia North East Local Government Area as hoodlums stormed the sleepy community in a commando-like manner and disrupted the election.
National Point investigation gathered that the heavily armed men stormed the camp 30 minutes after the election started, shooting sporadically and chased voters away from the polling units. They destroyed election materials and made away with the Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS).
It was confirmed that, the voters scampered to safety to avoid being hit by stray bullets.
An eye witness who would not want his name in print lamented that the situation was like a war zone in the camp during the assault.
He said the gunmen stormed the camp with their vehicles and started shooting sporadically just when people gathered to vote and had to run into the bush for safety.
He wailed: “The hoodlums went for the ballot boxes, papers, Bimodal Voters Accreditation System (BVAS) and carried everything away. Many people lost their Permanent Voters Cards in the process. There was no security presence during the attack.”
Lamenting on loos of his mobile phone, the coordinator of the camp, Pastor Folorusho Solomon, confirmed the incident, saying election did not hold in the area as a result of the incident.
Pastor Solomon however, added that he didn’t know who actually carried out the attack.