The Kogi State Police Command said on Wednesday that armed men who attacked the Secretary of the State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, Mr David Mike, made away with valuable items, including petitions filed by the opposition parties that participated in the last election.
Police Public Relations Officer SP Williams Ovye-Aya said Mike was attacked alongside Labode Apreala, a female confidential secretary and Hassimu Adamu, an assistant secretary, by armed men driving SUVs.
Explaining the incident, Ovye-Aya said Mike and his colleagues were on their way to court when the attackers surrounded and blocked his vehicle as he attempted to reverse.
“He (Mike) saw about seven hooded men, all heavily armed and dressed in black attire, who shot severally into the air and dragged him and his two other colleagues out of their car, ransacked the car, and made away with all the documents, including petitions filed by four parties.
“The names of the parties are Action Alliance (AA), Action People’s Party (APP), Peoples Redemption Party (PRP) and Social Democratic Party (SDP). The items also included two record books and a bag containing his personal items,” he stated.
Theanalyst reports that the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) had declared the candidate of the All Progressives Congress (APC), Usman Ododo, the winner of the November 11 gubernatorial poll.
His closest rival, Murtala Ajaka of SDP, had filed petitions at the state tribunal seeking to overturn the APC victory.
Following the activities of suspected political thugs in the state, Justice Monica Dongban-Mensem, the President of the Court of Appeal, on Wednesday ordered the relocation of the Kogi Governorship Election Petitions Tribunal from Lokoja to Abuja.
