Armed hoodlums on Monday in Lokoja, waylaid the Secretary of the Kogi State Governorship Election Petition Tribunal, Mr. David Umar, and carted away all election petition documents filed by aggrieved candidates of various political parties who contested the November 11 gubernatorial polls.
The panel scribe was said to be conveying all the election petitions and related documents to the High Court in the State capital, in company with two staff of the Tribunal identified as Mrs. Labode Apreala and Mr. Hashimu Adamu, when their vehicle was reportedly intercepted by gunmen at about 1.pm on Monday, December 4.
Scudnews learnt from impeccable security sources that the Tribunal secretary and the two staff with him visited the office of the Commissioner of Police, Kogi State Police Command, Mr. Bethrand Onuoha, at about 6.pm, on Monday, five hours after the incident reportedly occurred, to lodge a formal complaint.
The trio, according to sources, had narrated that they were driving to the High Court of Kogi State in the line of duty with all the governorship election petitions and related documents when armed men in one Hilux truck and two Sports Utility Vehicles, all unmarked, forced them to a stop between the state headquarters of the Department of State Service (DSS) and the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), along the Police Zone 8 –High Court Road in the state capital.
According to reports, the gunmen were said to have ordered the three tribunal officials to lie face down by the side of the road, carting away all the election petition documents as well as personal belongings of the panel secretary and zooming off from the scene.
Confirming the report, a senior police officer who requested not to be named due to the sensitive nature of the development said, “Yes, such a report was made and for now, we are treating it as a case of armed robbery. Investigation has commenced”.
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