25th February, 2019
The Independent National Electoral Commission’s (INEC) office in Isiala Mbano, Imo North, was on Monday gutted by fire, destroying INEC materials and some infrastructure.
The cause of the fire which happened is yet to be ascertained.
When contacted the INEC Public Relations Officer, Mrs Emmanuella Ben-Opara, confirmed the incident and described it as very unfortunate.
The PRO explained that the staff were shocked to learn of the incident, adding that elections took place in the area without any record of violence or crisis.
“Election took place in this place on Saturday and there was no record of any problem. The people that did this did not tell us what their grievances were.
“As at now, the commission in Imo is burdened with announcement of election results which we must finish before we start looking into the remote cause of the incident,’’ she said.
Asked if she could estimate the damage, Ben-Opara said it would be looked into at the end of declaration of the results in the state.
The Police Public Relations Officer in Imo State Command DSP, Orlando Ikeokwu, said the command was yet to be briefed on the incident.