Arrest of a group distributing rice to eligible voters
Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) officials intercepted a woman with 18 voter IDs in a covert operation in the Badarwa area of Kaduna, Kaduna state, early in the morning yesterday.
The woman, Maryam Mamman Alhaji, who is a member of the support group of one of the leading political parties, also had in her possession a 17-page list of eligible voters’ names, their bank details and telephone numbers as accredited under Badarwa /Malali Ward 01 and 08, Kaduna North Council of Kaduna State.
The commission said it was caught after undercover agents pretended they had voter cards and were keen to sell them.
She is currently being grilled by agents from the EFCC’s Kaduna Zonal Command to uncover other members of her syndicate who she claimed are also collecting voter cards and paying funds through point of sale (PoS) or direct bank transfers.
The EFCC also arrested a man on charges of allegedly buying N194,000 votes at Gidan Zakka polling station in the Goron Dutse area of Kano Municipal Council.
A party agent who bought votes by bank transfer to voters was also arrested in Abaji FCT.
Meanwhile, in Katsina state, EFCC officials have reportedly arrested a group of people who were distributing sacks of rice to voters.
The incident is said to have taken place at the premises of the Katsina local government secretariat, where voters were mobilized to collect the goods.
It was revealed that those arrested distributed the rice on condition that the beneficiaries would vote for the political party they represented.
Some of the beneficiaries reportedly received multiple portions of rice in plastic bags, among other inducements, before EFCC officers arrived at the scene.
A source familiar with the incident said security forces wearing clothing with EFCC emblazoned on the back stormed the secretariat shortly after the rice distribution began.
He said they arrested the people sharing the rice and allowed the people who had gathered to help each other with the goods.
He said some of the people who were strong enough carried up to two sacks or more, while others came in wheelbarrows and left with several sacks of rice.
As it turned out, the Secretariat was later placed under lock and key, although the state’s Police Command had not commented on the incident at the time of this writing.
Meanwhile, police have said they have completed their investigation into an alleged plan by one of the political parties to hack into the state’s President and National Assembly (NASS) portal.
Police on Friday night arrested 15 people suspected of hacking the election results portal with electronic devices, laptops and other related devices.
But a statement yesterday by command spokesman SP Gambo Isah said the investigation was being conducted with the help of experts familiar with hacking-related matters.
Isah said the investigation later found the devices were designed to monitor and store information about the elections.
