Election for Lokoja /Kogi constituency in the House of Representatives was one of four such elections in the country yesterday, the rest being for Katsina North Senatorial District, Bauchi South Senatorial District and Obudu State Constituency in Cross River State.
In the first of the two incidents in Kogi State yesterday, a yet to be identified man was mobbed by angry voters as he tried to snatch a ballot box at a polling unit close to the Abuja Electricity Distribution Company’s office in Lokoja.
The Nation gathered that the deceased in the process of carrying out his mission when voters on the queue confronted him.
An eyewitness said the suspect stabbed one of the voters who first stood up to him before others rallied round and overpowered him.
He was allegedly stabbed on the neck and died on the spot.
The second suspect was beaten to death at a polling booth in front of the palace of the Maigarin of Lokoja .
He was said to be the son of a House of Representatives aspirant who recently declared his political aspiration.
An eyewitness said the suspect invaded the voting centre and attempted to snatch the ballot box when party supporters swooped on him and beat him to death.
He was due for burial at press time.
The police public relations officer, William Aya, a Deputy Superintendent of police, confirmed only the first incident.
He said the deceased was a suspected political thug who invaded the voting centre with a view to snatching the ballot box but was overpowered by party supporters and got killed.
He, however, denied knowledge of him having a shot gun in his pocket which went off.
He also said that the corpse of the suspect had been deposited at the Federal Medical Centre, Lokoja Mortuary, while investigation was on to arrest those involved in his death.
He could not be reached by the time the second killing took place.
There were also allegations of vote buying in some parts of the constituency.
Some voters were allegedly paid between N2000 and N3000.
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Five persons were arrested in connection with electoral offences during the Bauchi South Senatorial bye-election, according to the police.
The election in Katsina was peaceful although the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) accused the All Progressives Congress (APC) of vote buying.
The APC dismissed the allegation as the cry of a defeated man.
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