AN office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at Iyana Mortuary in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital, was set on fire by suspected hoodlums in the early hours of Thursday.
It was gathered that the hoodlums, numbering about eight, reportedly jumped the fence into the premises and set the INEC building on fire from the back.
After invading the premises, the hoodlums reportedly soaked loaves of bread with petrol and threw them into the building at different angles to set fire on the INEC office.
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When contacted by The ICIR, the Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, promised to get back to our reporter on the issue.
He said that he had just learnt of the incident and would find out from the Divisional Police Officer.
It was gathered that a security guard at the facility, Azeez Hamzat, had made a distress call to the police around 1:00 am, alerting them of the fire incident.
Meanwhile, the Ogun INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, Niyi Ijalaye, confirmed the incident to PUNCH Newspaper and described it as shocking.
The REC said the situation was still being assessed.
“It is correct that our office was set on fire. The police are investigating. I do not know what to say. I’m in shock myself.
“We called the police and other security agencies at night. The fire brigade put the situation under control. The level of damage is still being assessed.
“It is very shocking and untoward. The security agencies are doing their very best. We are meeting again later today to come up with other strategies (toward securing our facilities,” he said.
No life was lost and no injury was sustained in the fire incident.
A reporter with the ICIR
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