The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has suspended the Continous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise in 54 centres.
This comes after Thursday’s attack in Ihitte Uboma Local Government Area of Imo State where a staff of the commission was killed and two others went missing.
In a statement by the National Commissioner and Chairman, Information and Voter Education Committee, Festus Okoye Esq, “Further to the unfortunate incident in Imo State in which our staff was killed by gunmen in Ihitte Uboma Local Government Area yesterday, the Commission has decided to suspend the ongoing Continuous Voter Registration (CVR) exercise in all the 54 additional centres created to facilitate the registration of voters across the State.
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“The exercise will now be confined to our State and Local Government Area offices except in Orsu, Njaba and Ihitte Uboma where it is suspended indefinitely.
“This decision follows a further report from the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Prof. Francis C. Ezeonu, of threats to our staff involved in the exercise in Ehime Mbano Local Government Area. Earlier, the Commission had restricted the exercise to our offices in Oru East, Oru West, Orlu and Ohaji-Egbema Local Government Areas”.
Mr Okoye noted that the Commission has now established contact with two of its staff missing after yesterday’s attack in Ihitte Uboma. They are safe and will soon be reunited with their families.
“The safety of staff remains a primary concern to the Commission. We will continue to ensure that no staff is put in harm’s way while working with the security agencies and community leaders to protect them and facilitate their work”, he added.