No fewer than 12 persons, suspected to be ad hoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission, are feared missing after their boat capsized in the Warri-North Local Government Area of Delta State.
It was learnt that the incident occurred around Ebrohimi community creek on Saturday evening.
It was gathered that the boat had on board about 20 persons, including corps members and security personnel.
It also carried electoral materials used for the conduct of the exercise in the area.
Our correspondents gathered that the occupants were returning to Koko, the headquarters of Warri North LGA, after the governorship and House of Assembly elections, when the boat capsized.
Our source was, however, silent on the number of casualties, saying that although a rescue operation was said to have begun shortly after the incident, it was not clear whether all the occupants had been rescued as of the time of filing this report.
When contacted, the Police Public Relations Officer, Chuks Oresewezie, said, “I will just confirm whether what you are saying is true because as of yesterday, before I left the office, there was nothing like that.”
But the Resident Electoral Commission, Dr. Cyril Omorogbe, who confirmed the incident, noted that ad hoc staff of the state were not involved in the mishap.
Omorogbe, who spoke in Asaba yesterday morning, “I understand that my staff members are not involved.
“They (INEC workers) are all safe and the ad hoc staff were safe.
“And I don’t think the mishap affected the materials because it happened later in the day, from what I know.”
In Asaba, the state capital, Onicha-Ugbo, Umunede, Issele-Ukwu and other polling units in Delta North senatorial district, there were minor cases of faulty card readers.
Governor Ifeanyi Okowa, who voted at Ward 2 in Owa-Alero, Ika North-East Local Government Area, described the process as peaceful.
Okowa called on security agents to expose persons planning to disrupt the election.
violence witnessed during February 23 elections caused the presence of soldiers in different parts of the state on Saturday.
Two persons were killed in the Sapele Local Government Area of the state during last election.
There were several military checkpoints on major roads and soldiers were sighted at different wards in Sapele, Effurun, Abraka, Ethiope and Ogorode road.
Uduaghan said, “I will not be surprised in the case of Sapele because you know that in the last exercise, there were some skirmishes and people died. I think the security is tighter this time.”