Boko Haram attacks force INEC to suspend voter registration

The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has suspended its Continuous Voter Registration in the Madagali Local Government Area of Adamawa State, due to persistent Boko Haram attacks.
The Communications Officer of INEC in Adamawa State, Mrs Rifkatu Maxwell, made the disclosure in Yola, the state capital, on Friday.
“The commission has suspended the ongoing nationwide continuous voter registration exercise in Madagali Local Government Area, due to security challenges and frequent Boko Haram attacks.
“The commission will announce a date for resumption of the exercise if the situation improves.”
The spokeswoman noted, however, that no worker of the commission or vital election material had been affected by the attacks, the latest of which was on August 15.
She noted, however, that registration of potential voters had been going on smoothly in other local government areas in the state.
Borno and Adamawa states have taken the biggest brunt of the insurgency, which has claimed no fewer than 20,000 lives and displaced more than 2.7 million people in Nigeria’s northeast.
The eight-year war has left the economy of the two states in ruins, having displaced many people and forcing away potential investors.
The insurgents launched the bloody campaign in a bid to enthrone an Islamic caliphate in northern Nigeria but the Nigerian military has decimated the group.
The military onslaught has forced the jihadists to resort to attacking mainly civilian targets.