Is There no End to Electoral Violence in Nigeria?

Spontaneous acts of violence have become part of the political system in Nigeria, especially during and after elections. Last weekend’s poll was no different as hoodlums dared the authorities by disrupting the elections despite the peace accord signed by the presidential candidates and party leaders. THEWILL wonders whether they are intelligent interpreters of their master’s every wish or they acted alone. Michael Jimoh

reports

By now, General Abdusalami Abubakar would have been wondering what suddenly went wrong with the just concluded general elections across the country over the weekend. The retired army general and last military head of state of Nigeria who has since morphed into a peacemaker by virtue of his position as the head of the Peace Committee would have seen firsthand, like many of his compatriots, the spate of violence perpetrated by hoodlums when polls held last weekend, mostly in the southern part of the country.

For the second or third time, Gen Abubakar has presided over peace meetings of political gladiators. Fearful of the tension-soaked campaigns and possible degeneration into a state of anarchy during and after the 2015 presidential polls between Goodluck Jonathan of Peoples Democratic Party and Muhammadu Buhari of the All Progressives Congress, the peace committee brought the contenders to the table whereupon they and their party leaders swore to eschew violence and to also not incite their supporters to acts of violence whatever the outcome of the results.

Then incumbent President Jonathan provided a much needed relief for INEC, the Peace Committee and Nigerians as he conceded defeat to his opponent even before conclusion of the election that year. Abubakar expressed the same sigh of relief four years later after the presidential election between Buhari and his opponent Atiku Abubakar of the PDP.

It was in the hope of a peaceful denouement to the last election that the Infantry commander summoned the presidential candidates to the table last September. With more than a dozen flag bearers and party leaders in attendance, it was all decorum from the participants. Bola Ahmed Tinubu of APC appended his signature to the document. So did Atiku Abubakar of PDP, as well as Peter Obi of Labour Party and Omiyole Sowore of African Action Congress.

To reaffirm their commitment to the peace accord, Abubakar once again summoned them to another meeting late last January at the International Conference Centre, Abuja. Three or so former African presidents were in attendance this time with the convener insisting on the “need for all parties to be committed to the second peace accord.”

According to the former head of state, some of the candidates flouted the first peace accord last September which necessitated the second one.

“There was lack of compliance by the major political parties,” Abubakar let on at the meeting, adding that “forty-four percent of the violations were carried out by spokespersons of the political parties and twenty-six percent

“There was lack of compliance by the major political parties,” Abubakar let on at the meeting, adding that “forty-four percent of the violations were carried out by spokespersons of the political parties and twenty-six percent by party members. Nineteen percent of the violations were carried out by the presidential candidates themselves, 11 percent by hardcore supporters and four percent by party chairmen by party members. Nineteen percent of the violations were carried out by the presidential candidates themselves, 11 percent by hard-core supporters and four percent by party chairmen.”

Even before the election proper in late February, Abubakar reminded the attendees that “in January 2023, a lot of violence has occurred with at least 15 abductions (including that of a police officer) and at least 30 killings (including those of 11 security personnel)” while there were at least “six attacks at political campaign rallies.”

Against that background, it was necessary to caution the politicians and their followers once more. In the light of the recent electoral violence, it does seem the politicians and their followers threw caution to the wind.

Which is why Abubakar would have been aghast at the needless acts of violence during last week’s polls. Did the contenders and party leaders sign the peace document just for the sake of it? In other words, was Abubakar, and the rest of the committee members including the venerated Catholic Bishop of Sokoto Diocese Matthew Hassan Kukah, deceived?

It does seem so now, considering the widespread violence during the election itself.

One of the very first was the unpremeditated beheading of Samuel Arunsi Eze by a political thug Daniel Mgba in Abia state. The killing took place in Ndi Agwu Community of Abam in Arochukwu council. One of the assailants was himself killed in the process.

Violence in other states and cities were soon recorded and reported in the papers and social media. Polling stations and INEC officials were invariably the target of such attacks by political thugs. In Lagos state alone, polling stations in Amuwo Odofin, Badagry, Fadeyi, Iba, Ijaiye, Ijanikin, Iyana Shashi, Ikate, Ikorodu, LASU Iba, Lekki, Mafoluku, Ogombo, Ojota, Sangotedo, Surulere.were among those affected.

Thugs in Surulere working on behalf of the ruling party APC reportedly “warned voters who were not willing to vote for the presidential candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Bola Tinubu to vacate the polling units while policemen looked away.”

If the police looked away while the thugs operated in Surulere, their action was even more damning at Ogombo Primary School. According to one account, “thugs chased away voters and locked the gates while police officers stood still, smiling at them,” a situation that was not “different at Ojota Senior Secondary School.”

The thugs did not stop there, they snatched the phone of popular rap artiste Falz, scattered the ballot boxes in the polling station and then dumped them into the gutter while the law enforcement agents watched. “It took the intervention of the military personnel,” a report stated “who were also overstretched, to restore peace and orderliness in some of the affected polling units.”

Lagos state police chief, Idowu Owohunwa confirmed the attacks by thugs on polling stations during the elections in the state. Surveying the exercise from high above on a police chopper, Owohunwa later told reporters he and his team visited places like Maryland, Mafoloku in Oshodi and Surulere “where armed thugs disrupted voting exercises and snatched and burnt ballot boxes.” Continuing, the police boss said “we visited about five polling units in Epe, and there was this family way of approaching the process. I interacted with them, and they insisted that Epe was calm. They are a peaceful family, so regardless of the political divide, they remain one family and work to ensure peace.”

“What we are dealing with here has to do with human conduct,” Owohunwa went on. “It could be unpredictable or driven by passion, emotion, or criminal intent. We recorded specific instances of thuggery and violence. These things will always happen, and when they do, we will implement

Continues on page 44