On Saturday morning, thugs attacked a few polling units in the Ajiran neighbourhood of the Agungi, Lekki, and Eti-Osa Local Government Area in Lagos State, stealing ballot boxes.
Newsmen observed that the hoodlums attacked PU 108, PU 007 and PU 028 in the area.
Furthermore, it was noted that a large number of people returned to their homes out of fear for their safety after the attack, which caused a sharp decline in voter turnout in the neighbourhood.
An area resident who was assaulted and flogged by the thugs while having blood drip down his head stated that he was intimidated while attempting to cast his ballot.
Speaking to newsmen on condition of anonymity for fear of harassment, he said, “I was trying to cast my vote when the thugs invaded my polling unit. They said I can’t vote if I’m not voting for the APC [All Progressives Congress]. They started flogging me and beating me.”
It was gathered that the hoodlums were made up of both male and female members and they were about 20 in number that invaded the area.
Another resident, identified simply as Bayo, said, “The violence broke out between 9am and 10 am. The number of voters that came out during the presidential election in our area has dropped significantly. We are still calling our people around to come out and vote as the military has arrived and things have settled now.”
It was gathered that the chairman of one of the estates in the area was assaulted by the hoodlums when he tried to engage them and urge them to stop harassing and intimidating the voters.
As of the time of filing this report, three military vans with armed soldiers had arrived in the area and peace had been restored.
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