By Stephen Ubanna
In spite of the fact that the Saturday February 23, 2019, Presidential and National Assembly Election , was characterised by crisis by violence in different parts of the country, Stuart Symington, the United States , Ambassador to Nigeria believes i that it was ”predominantly peaceful”. Symington, may have spoken the mind of other International Observers from the United Nations, European Union and Britain, who i their preliminary reports hailed the Mahmood Yakubu led Independent National Electoral Commission for the peaceful conduct of the Saturday election, describing it as a ”proof of Nigerian people’s Commitment to choose their leaders”. Note that the British government had sent 300 Observers to monitor the election across the country.
Political watchers believe that the US envoy may not have been fair in his report to the his home government because of the killings in different parts of the country during the election including an Army Colonel in Abonnema, Akuku Toru, local government Area of Rivers state, forcing the Army to lay a sisege on the town. The Ambassador may have shut himself on the leg when he extended his deepest sumpathy to the families of those who had lost their lives during the election’. The question on the lips of many was that , if the US Ambassador claims could the Nigeria as being peaceful, why making reference to those killed in electoral in electoral violence, given an indication that the west are not honest with their assessment of the true situation of things in Nigeria because of their own economic interest: To buy the country’s crude Oil from the government.
Recall, that Mohammed Abubakar Adumu, acting Inspector General of Police, IGP, had on Monday, February 25, 2019, ordered the immediate
Prior to the Bayelsa incident at Umuahia, a Deputy Superintendent of police, DSP, had earlier been attacked on a similar incident at Umuahi, Abia state , according to the IGP, for defending the sanctity of the electoral system at a Collation center in the city. The alleged suspects in the Umuahia attack may not have escaped as five of them were said to have been arrested and may be prosecuted according to the Law, no thanks to Yakubu, the INEC boss. Security experts believe that there was no basis for policemen on electoral duties to have been exposed to atack during the election as the Police boss was said to have made made adquate security arrangement during the election. It was learnt that the officers deployed on the electoral duties in the areas where the elections had been extended last Sunday had been armed to the teeth and advised that they must always be seen in groups to forestall any attack from political thugs. The frequent attack on policemen performing their legitimate duties may have informed the reason why the acting IGP, has told his officers across the country to be on the alert. The soldiers deployed to the flash point states appear to giving a strong back up to the policemen which had forced the hoodlums to withdraw from any further attack on the policemen for fear of being killed.
