Tension high as Nigerians go to the polls
Tens of thousands of police and army troops guarded voting stations today as Nigerians cast ballots in tense municipal elections already marred by assassinations and other deadly attacks.
Voters straggled to polling stations shortly after 8am (7am Irish time) in the commercial capital of Lagos, where candidates were vying for more than 50 of 800 municipal government posts across Nigeria.
Violence fears and legal disputes prompted officials to cancel voting in more than 100 municipal districts – known as Local Government Areas – around the country.
Balloting is scheduled to end at 4pm (3pm Irish time) or later. Results are not expected until Sunday or Monday, at the earliest.
Small groups of prospective voters lined up in the oil port of Warri, where voting was planned in 15 of 18 of the city’s municipal districts.
Soldiers at sandbagged checkpoints searched voters’ pockets for weapons and stolen ballot materials.
“We just hope the elections won’t be rigged,” said James Otobo, a 45-year-old engineer waiting to vote at a polling station in Warri.
“Each time we vote and the votes are not counted. We hope it won’t be the same this time.”
Scattered deadly clashes and assassinations of politicians and election officials have already preceded Saturday’s vote.
Residents blamed political gangs for killing at least five people – and possibly as many as 10 – during a gunfight in Port Harcourt.
Police in a convoy guarding Kano state Governor Ibrahim Shekarau – a member of Nigeria’s main opposition party – fought yesterday with ruling party protesters on the outskirts of the northern city of Kano, witnesses said.
The governor was not injured although his car was damaged by rocks and bricks.
Police were also investigating reports that 20 people were killed in a clash on Thursday in Wase, outside the central city of Jos, said Plateau state police spokesman David Michael.
An international rights group warned that a “climate of impunity” could kindle further violence in Africa’s most populous nation of 126 million, where many complain true democracy remains elusive, five years after elected civilians replaced brutal military rulers.
New York-based Human Rights Watch urged Nigeria’s government to ensure that today’s vote in 800 local districts is less bloody than last year’s general elections, which left more than 100 dead and many others injured.
“We must all eschew violence ... and learn to accept election results with equanimity,” President Olusegun Obasanjo said. “The world is watching us.”
