THUGS attacked operatives of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) who were on duty monitoring the Presidential and National assembly elections on Saturday, February 25.
This was disclosed by the anti-graft agency in signed by its spokesperson, Wilson Uwujaren.
According to the EFCC, the attack in Abuja happened near the Chief’s Palace in the Bwari Area Council of the Federal Capital Territory.
READ ALSO:
EFCC intercepts N32.4m cash ‘meant for vote buying in Lagos’
2023: EFCC deploys officers for election monitoring duties to check vote-buying
Fake EFCC chairman arrested in Abuja hotel
INEC suspends election in Esan, Igueben Federal Constituency
“The attack followed the arrest of a man for allegedly masterminding a well-orchestrated vote-buying procedure at the polling unit at Science Primary School, Bwari.
“The team had arrested the suspect, said to be about 30 years old, and retrieved from him a list of beneficiaries he had already paid some money to through an online banking app.
“It was at the point of moving the suspect away from the polling unit that the thugs attacked, smashing the windshield of the Commission’s patrol van.
The Commission said the thugs retreated into their hideouts after the Commission’s operative responded by releasing warning shots, before members of the Joint Task Force team comprising the Department of State Services, the Nigeria Police and others arrived at the scene.
The incident was immediately reported at the Bwari Police Station.
Similarly, a team of EFCC operatives on election monitoring duty at Unit 001, Mann Primary School behind Chorobim junction, was shot at by unknown persons, two black Prado SUVs and one white Hilux outside the polling unit, suspected to be buying votes.
The Agency said its team responded, forcing the attackers to flee the scene.
In another development, operatives of the EFCC, in the early hours of February 25, intercepted a woman with 18 voter cards in a sting operation at the Badarwa area of Kaduna, Kaduna State.
The woman, Maryam Mamman Alhaji, who is a member of the support group of one of the leading political parties, also had in her possession a 17-page list containing names of eligible voters, their bank details and phone numbers as accredited under Badarwa/Malali Ward 01 and 08, Kaduna North Local Government Area of Kaduna State.
A reporter with the ICIR
A Journalist with a niche for quality and a promoter of good governance