Mob Beat Up INEC Driver For ‘Diverting’ Election Materials

INEC CHAIRMAN JEGA 

A driver with the Independent National Electoral Commission in Delta State was beaten to a pulp on Thursday in Asaba by a mob that alleged that he was diverting election materials.


The driver had just left the Central Bank of Nigeria premises with an INEC pick-up van after loading election materials for Ethiope East and West when the mob stopped him for allegedly diverting from the route other drivers had taken.




The suspicion was heightened when the mob could not find any police escort with the driver while he could also not give satisfactory explanation for his “action.”

The crowd thereafter descended on him when he could not provide any satisfactory explanations for his action.

The mob immediately descended on the driver, pulled him out of the van and forced the booth open. They ransacked the materials, spilling the content of the vehicle on the floor.



By the time the police arrived the scene, the driver had been bloodied. The police managed to gather the scattered materials and load them back into the van.

It took the intervention of the police to save the driver form being lynched.

The driver later explained that he had not followed the route other vans were following because he wanted to fuel the van.


The Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Aniedi Ikiowak, who confirmed the incident, said he would investigate the matter.