INEC confirms abduction, release of staffer

The Independent National Electoral Commission said on Saturday that one of its staffers kidnapped during the legislative elections in Etche, Rivers State had been released.
May Agbamuche-Mbu, the South South National Electoral Commissioner in charge of Edo, Bayelsa and Rivers States, made this known while speaking to newsmen in Etche after monitoring the election.
She said the staffer was attacked and kidnapped while on the way to supply election materials to some polling centres.
Agbamuche-Mbu added that some members of staff attacked and injured during the election had been taken to the hospital.
She decried the increasing incidence of election violence in Rivers State.
She said: “Thankfully they have been released; some were injured and we will take care of them, and it has happened again and again (elections) yet Rivers state is boiling.
“We have decided that where elections are peaceful, we will collate results there; where there is violence, we will collate results at the INEC headquarter here in Etche.”
Agbamuche-Mbu stated that INEC has always spoken of the need to take election violence seriously.
She said: “And we are thankful that some of the thugs have been arrested and actually what we really want are those leaders who are behind them.
“These young men are sent out to disrupt the election and we must get those who are behind them.”
She added that the election would be concluded because INEC had collated a significant percentage of the results ready.
Meanwhile, the police have said that some arrests have been made by soldiers.
Spokesman of the police in the state, Nnamdi Omoni, said: “Hopefully, they are going to hand them over to the police.”