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Unknown Gunmen Set Enugu INEC Office Ablaze
The office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Awgu Local Government Area of Enugu State has been set ablaze by yet-to-be identified persons.
INEC National Commissioner and Chairman of Information and Voter Education, Festus Okoye, confirmed this via a statement on Sunday.
The attack, which took place in the early hours of the day, resulted in extensive damage to the stores section where election materials are kept.
He said that all movable election materials had been evacuated following recent attacks on the commission’s offices in the state, adding that there were no casualties in the incident.
“The identity or motives of attackers are unknown while the incident has been reported to the Nigeria Police Force for investigation,” the statement added. “This unfortunate incident is the first since the last attack on our facilities four months ago in May 2021.”
Okoye commended the prompt response of the security agencies comprising the police, the Army, the Department of State Services (DSS) and the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps as well the Enugu State Fire Service and the Awgu Local Government Neighbourhood Watch.
Sunday’s incident is the latest in a series of attacks on INEC offices especially in the South-East and South-South regions.
In May, the commission’s headquarters in Enugu was burnt down, three days after another office in Obollo-Afor, Udenu LGA of the state, was razed.
INEC had earlier warned that repeated attacks on its offices will affect its preparations for the 2023 general election.
The commission had said sensitive and non-sensitive materials, including generators and card readers, were lost to the attacks.
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The first hostages freed from Gaza under a long-awaited ceasefire agreement are back in Israel. The news sparked jubilant scenes in Tel Aviv where large crowds gathered ahead of their release.
The three freed Israeli hostages – the first of 33 to be released over the next six weeks – are Romi Gonen, Doron Steinbrecher and Emily Damari. They are said to be in good health and are receiving treatment at a medical center in Tel Aviv.
In exchange, 90 Palestinian prisoners and detainees are set to be released by Israel from Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank.
The Israeli military withdrew from several locations in southern and northern Gaza after the truce began earlier on Sunday, an Israeli military official told CNN.
Displaced Gazans have started returning to their homes, while the aid trucks laden with much-needed supplies have crossed into Gaza. Here’s what we know about how the ceasefire deal will work.
Hamas, despite suffering devastating losses, is framing the Gaza ceasefire agreement as a victory for itself, and a failure for Israel.
One of Hamas’ main goals for taking some 250 people during its brazen October 7, 2023, attack on Israel was to secure the release of Palestinian prisoners held in Israeli jails. As Israel pounded Gaza in response, Hamas vowed not to return the hostages until Israel withdrew its forces from the enclave, permanently ended the war, and allowed for rebuilding.
Source: CNN
The leader of UK’s Conservative Party, Kemi Badenoch, has said she doesn’t want Britain to be like Nigeria that is plagued by “terrible governments.”
Speaking on Thursday at an event organised by Onward, a British think tank producing research on economic and social issues, Badenoch expressed fears that Britain may become like Nigeria if the system is not reformed.
“And why does this matter so much to me? It’s because I know what it is like to have something and then to lose it,” Badenoch told the audience.
“I don’t want Britain to lose what it has.
“I grew up in a poor country and watched my relatively wealthy family become poorer and poorer, despite working harder and harder as their money disappeared with inflation.
“I came back to the UK aged 16 with my father’s last £100 in the hope of a better life.
“So I have lived with the consequences of terrible governments that destroy lives, and I never, ever want it to happen here.”
Badenoch has been in the news of late after she dissociated herself from Nigeria, saying she has nothing to do with the Islamic northern region.
She also accused the Nigeria Police of robbing citizens instead of protecting them.
She said: “My experience with the Nigeria Police was very negative. Coming to the UK, my experience with the British Police was very positive.
“The police in Nigeria will rob us (laughter). When people say I have this bad experience with the police because I’m black, I say well…I remember the police stole my brother’s shoe and his watch.”
