The National Human Rights Commission (NHRC) yesterday disclosed that not less than 50 people were killed during and after last Saturday’s presidential and National Assembly elections.
NHRC commended Nigerians for refusing to be discouraged by operational and logistical hiccups in the electoral process. But the commission also noted that the voting process was not without some challenges, including cases of violence and security breaches.
The commission said there were incidents, reports and allegations of various forms of violence, including some reported attacks by extremists in some parts of north-eastern Nigeria aimed at frustrating the exercise of the franchise.
In a statement signed by the chairman of the commission’s Governing Council, Dr Chidi Odinkalu:
“At the end of yesterday, the number of persons reported killed in these attacks and incidents is over 50.
“This number includes one state legislator, a community leader and two (2) ad-hoc election staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), who have allegedly been killed in an extremist attack in Gombe State, as well as the killing of an asset of the Nigerian armed forces in Rivers State.
“There were also reported cases of injuries from politically-motivated violence in Edo, Ekiti, Imo, Lagos, and Kano States as well as allegations of snatching of ballot boxes, Card Readers and related election materials in some states, like Akwa Ibom, Benue, Gombe, Imo, Niger, and Rivers ,” the chairman said.
Odinkalu added that there were also very worrying reports of arson attacks on assets of INEC and of the Nigeria Police Force (NPF) in parts of the Niger Delta.
The commission noted that widespread availability of small arms and light weapons in some parts of the country, especially in parts of Akwa Ibom, Imo, Delta, Rivers, and Benue States. Odinkalu commiserated with the families of those who lost their relatives but said those who killed them should be held accountable.
“All acts of election-related violence must be condemned unreservedly. The affected families and communities deserve our condolences, compassion and support.
“In particular, we condemn the killing of and attacks on uniformed personnel of the security agencies as well as the killing of INEC staff. Those responsible must be held to account.
“Such political violence dishonoursthe high sense of civic pride, sacrifice and co-existence showed by Nigerians throughout this period. “The right to life remains the foundation of all human rights, including the right to vote. Election violence undermines both the right to life and the right to vote.”
Continuing the statement, Odinkalu called on the INEC and politicians not to tamper with the collation of election results in order to ensure that the election is not followed by violence.
“Now that the voting is over, the best guarantee of a violence-free election is a credible count and collation. This is the statutory responsibility of INEC.
“The tabulation of results from 150,000 polling units and voting points are demanding logistical operation. It is also usually the most difficult phase of any election process. It is natural for citizens and communities to be anxious.
“This is also where conscience and patriotism beckon on all the political parties, political leaders, communities, citizens and institutions to do the right thing: we must all patiently support the INEC in delivering on this task.”