Idowu Owohunwa, the commissioner of police in Lagos, has denied accusations of voter intimidation during Saturday’s governorship and state assembly elections.
“Yes,” Mr Owohunwa said in a Channels interview on Saturday, when asked if he was denying widespread violent voter suppression during the election.
“I should be in a position to practically tell you what is on ground. Because whatever I tell you is not driven by sentiment, political affiliation and emotion.
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“I deployed those policemen and I get constant feedbacks from them from the field,” the police boss said.
Mr Owohunwa’s statement contradicts many accusations of voting suppression in Lagos by thugs suspected of being supporters of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC).
These are documented verifiable incidents that residents randomly recorded throughout the poll on Saturday, which contradict the Lagos police commissioner’s claim of a calm election.
We have reported on APC goons roaming the streets of Lagos before and during the elections, telling Nigerians not to vote APC to stay away.
“If you no vote for APC, no come outside o. This one no be last time o,” the thugs chanted in pidgin English as they roamed the streets in a video seen on social media.
Before Saturday’s election, on Thursday, notorious Lagos thug, Musiliu ‘MC Oluomo’ Akinsanya’s threatened Igbos who will not vote for the APC to stay at home.
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In the viral video, MC Oluomo charged Yorubas to go out to vote early on Saturday, adding that “we have begged them. If they don’t want to vote for us, it is not a fight. Tell them, Iya Chukwudi, if you don’t want to vote for us, sit down at home. Sit down at home.”
In another video released on Friday, MC Oluomo played down his threat to the Igbos in Lagos as a joke.
Olumuyiwa Adejobi, a police spokesperson, similarly dismissed MC Oluomo’s threat as a joke, disregarding calls from Nigerians for the thug’s arrest and prosecution.
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