Police arrest 30 for election violence, vote buying in Ogun

The police in Ogun State said it has arrested 30 suspects over disruption of the electoral processes and violence during the governorship and state House of Assembly elections in the state.

The Commissioner of Police, Frank Mbah, said the suspects were arrested in different parts of the state for unlawful possession of firearms, inducement and vote buying.

Mr Mbah disclosed this to journalists on Thursday during a visit to the office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abeokuta, the state capital.

The police chief also said his officers recovered guns, live cartridges and expended cartridges.

He added that 235 credit cards and customised ATM cards were also recovered from the suspects.

“A total of 30 persons were arrested. They were arrested for various offences, ranging from unlawful possession of weapons to disorderly behaviour around polling units, conduct likely to cause breach of peace and also for offences relating to exertion of undue influence and attempt to indulge in vote buying.

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“We also recovered a total of 12 firearms of different mix and shapes. Most of them are locally fabricated short guns. We also recovered one beretta pistol, an English made pistol. We recovered a total of 25 live cartridges and eight expended cartridges,” he said

“Investigations are ongoing and like we promised on the day of the election, we will continue to keep citizens updated as we make progress with these cases, but you can trust us that we will certainly and surely do a good job.

“We believe that will be done very soon. You know under the new rules, prosecution is handled by INEC. So at the right time, under the right directives from the office of the Inspector-General of Police, these cases will naturally be transferred to INEC and we will work together with them, support them and ensure that these cases are diligently prosecuted.”