Lagos State Commissioner of Police, Idowu Owohunwa, has denied reports claiming there were widespread electoral violence in the governorship and House of Assembly elections held on Saturday, March 18.
The Commissioner, Owohunwa, in an interview with Channels TV on Saturday, affirmed there were attacks on the electorate and electoral officers recorded at some polling units in the state but disputed the attacks were widespread.
He added that due to the anticipated violence, the police responded swiftly to most of the attacks.
He said:
“It is true that we’ve recorded instances of violence in some areas within the state. The incidents were not as widespread as to affect the general dynamics of the process.
“Most of the instances were properly responded to by the police because we anticipated them,” he said.
“We anticipated and then we integrated that into our general operational plan and we activated that protocol effects mostly in this instance. Most of those breaches, the police were able to respond promptly.”
Moreover, Owohunwa while responding to a video of voters said it is illegal for the people to overpower the young man alleged to have snatched a ballot box.
He, however, noted that the man was rescued by the police and other security agencies, adding that the suspected electoral offender was receiving medical attention.
“He’s stable; he’s not dead,”. He declared.
The Police Chief further noted that a lot of arrest were made and ballot papers were recovered.
“In most of those cases of ballot box snatching, we recovered virtually all the ballot boxes,” he said.
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