A 35-year-old man, Umar Hassan, was, on Saturday, shot dead at Agala Ogane polling unit in Anyigba, Kogi East Senatorial District.
The deceased, a member of the All Progressives Congress (APC), was allegedly shot dead by Social Democratic Party (SDP) thugs.
APC supporters in the polling unit and the ward in general, according to one of them, “are already protesting this senseless and gruesome killing. We call on security agencies to do their thorough investigation. Heavily-armed SDP thugs invaded the polling unit and started shooting. The process was smooth, orderly and peaceful before the invasion. I have never seen anything like this in my life”.
Fear gripped voters at the Polling Unit immediately as SDP thugs were on the rampage, threatening to kill “anyone who votes against the Igala Agenda”.
Another eye witness, who identified himself simply as Adamu, told reporters how the SDP thugs invaded the Polling Unit with sophisticated weapons, threatening to kill anyone “who doesn’t vote for the SDP”.
“It was like what we watch in horror movies as they invaded our Polling Unit with very dangerous weapons. Unfortunately, Hassan fell victim and he was gunned down.
“They kept chanting war songs that they would kill anyone who voted against the Igala Agenda. They targetted Hassan being an APC member.
“What surprised me most was that the Military guys that had been targeting APC supporters for arrest and harassment were not on ground to save Hassan’s life. It was so unfortunate”.
There was calm across many Polling Units in Anyigba until the gunmen stormed many units to fight anyone suspected to be an APC member.
Reports show that the poll has been peaceful so far in the Central and Western Senatorial Districts.
When contacted, the Spokesperson of the APC Governorship Campaign Council, Hon. Kingsley Fanwo, condemned the attack and urged security agencies to fish out the killers immediately.
“The gruesome murder of Hassan Umar whose only sin was being an APC member is unacceptable. Security agents in the area should fish out the murderers immediately.
“In the 21st century, it is sad that people are still killed for supporting a particular political party. It is unacceptable and condemnable. We knew the only agenda of the SDP is to wage violence against our people. We must restore confidence in our electoral process”, he said.
