- Federal government rejected election postponement
- Gunmen kidnapped two Germans in Niger Delta
Leo Tolstoy, a Russian writer and philosopher once said historians are like deaf people who go on answering questions that no one has asked them.
The study of history offers the chance to grow and expand one’s knowledge. Considering past occurrences, humanity’s only failing is that we have a tendency to make the same mistakes over and over again.
WITHIN NIGERIA highlights two notable events that occurred on April 18 in the history of this country, Nigeria in an effort to educate our readers.
Federal government rejected election postponement
On this day, April 18 in 2007, Federal Government rejected an opposition call to postpone next Saturday’s presidential election following widespread abuses in state polls.
This was made known by then Minister of Information, Frank Nweke in a conversation with Reuters.
‘This administration is committed to going through with the 2007 elections on schedule and handing over to a new government on May 29, he told Reuters.
An 18-member coalition of the main opposition parties early on Wednesday called for the indefinite postponement of the election, rejected the results of the regional poll and demanded the replacement of the official electoral commission.
About 50 people were killed in election-day violence last Saturday amid widespread abuses across Africa’s most populous country and top oil producer.
A grouping of local election observers said the results announced in 10 of 36 states did not reflect the will of the people and should be rejected.
The European Union also criticised the conduct of the poll for state governors and said the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) should seriously consider re-running the election in several states.
A statement issued after a long opposition meeting said: “Nigerians have lost confidence in the integrity of this government and its ability to conduct free, fair and credible elections.”
The elections are expected to lead to the first handover of power from one civilian president to another since independence from Britain in 1960.
“The coalition calls on Nigerians to protest in a non-violent manner the sham elections so far conducted,” the opposition statement said.
Under Nigeria’s constitution, elections must be held by April 29, a month before the constitutional handover date of May 29.
Gunmen kidnapped two Germans in Niger Delta
On this day, April 18 in 2010, gunmen abducted two Germans who sought respite along a beach in Nigeria’s oil-rich and violent southern region, an area long targeted by kidnappers ranging from criminal gangs to armed militants.
According to a private security official, the two men visited a beach Sunday along the Imo River in Abia state, near the oil-rich swamps and creeks of the Niger Delta.
The two men had started walking back to their car where their driver waited when gunmen seized them, the official said.
Militants in the delta have targeted oil workers for kidnapping in the past during their campaign to bring more oil money to a region that suffered environmental damage and economic neglect over 50 years of production.
However, criminal gangs increasingly target wealthy Nigerians and politicians for kidnappings, as well as foreigners who stumble into their path.
The two Germans kidnapped apparently traveled to the area, long known for its instability, without any guards.
It’s “likely opportunist abduction,” the security official said.
