Imo State Police command says its operatives have repelled an attack on the Office of the Independent National Electoral Commission at Orlu.
In a statement by the command’s public relations officer, Michael Abattam, the hoodlums invaded INEC Office and threw improvised Explosive Devices into the office which caused minor damage on the security post.
The suspected bandits who were shooting sporadically to gain entrance into the main building were repelled by the superior fire from the security agents who engaged them.
According to the police, no life was lost in the foiled attack as the hoodlums who sustained various degrees of bullet wounds ran away with the vehicle they came for the operation.
Offices and facilities of the Election Management Body, The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has come under attack in several states of the Federation over the last few years.
The attacks has raised the spectre of disruption to preparation for the 2023 Election by INEC.
At the last count the attacks on the offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, has reached over 40 with sensitive materials like Thousands of Permanent Voter Cards, the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and even lives of officers of the commission.
Gunmen have also killed some officials of the Commission in Imo and Anambra State during the Continous Voter Registration in both States leading to the suspension of the programme.
While some of the attacks on INEC especially in the South East have been attributed to the activities of the proscribed Indigenous Peoples of Biafra and its Militant wing the Eastern Security Network.
The attacks have also now spread to the South West with Ogun and Osun State now in the league of States who have suffered attacks on the facilities of the Independent National Electoral Commission and with less than 90 days to the election itself, the commission has raised the alarm that it may not be able to reproduce some of the very sensitive materials it has lost in the growing number of attacks.
