Story from Kenneth AFOR, Lagos
A non-profit organisation, Kimpact Development Initiative, (KDI) has called for collaborative effort among relevant stakeholders to strategise on ways to avert any form of violence that may forestall the forthcoming Anambra governorship election scheduled for November.
The call was made on Wednesday during a virtual presentation of its Election Security Risk Analysis (ESRA) for the state governorship election, attended by Neptune Prime.
The analysis, which will serve as a guide, according to Bukola Idowu Executive Director, KDI, was necessary for active players such as the country’s electoral umpire, the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), security agencies, political parties and their candidates, the electorates and members of the public to prepare and put in place adequate plans for the election.
Anambra State and virtually all the states in the Southeast of the country over the last six months have witnessed series of unprecedented violent attacks by suspected members of the Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB) operating as Eastern Security Network (ESN) going after and setting ablaze offices of INEC, police stations and letting lose prisoners as well as killing innocent citizens in the state.
The reign of destruction by this group has largely created fear among the people in the region especially Anambra state whose off-cycle election is near.
According to research conducted by KDI, out of the 441 cases of violence recorded in the southeast, about 113 cases occurred in Anambra State alone.
To this, 84 per cent of the total respondents (700) believe the state ahead of the election is not secured.
Reasons for the violence as indicated by the respondents according to the organisation were mainly youths unemployment, youths restiveness, poverty, police brutality and, agitation for self-determination among others.
The organisation further stated out of the 700 respondents 419 indicated there is a possibility that violence will disrupt the election scheduled for November.
Consequently, about 84 per cent of the respondents express fear of going to the polling units to cast their vote.
However, based on the report presented, the organisation is recommending that “INEC, media organisations, CSOs and relevant stakeholders need to carry out effective programmes aimed at reorientating, educating voters on the importance of the ongoing voter’s registration looking at the limited number of days the state has for registration before the election.
“CSOs need to creatively come up with initiatives that will restore public interest in the electoral process to ensure more robust participation in the election.
“All state security agencies in the should be empowered to secure the electoral process in the state.
“All key stakeholders including security agencies, community leaders, religious leaders, and political parties should be engaged in peaceful dialogue to ensure that all forms of violence are mitigated and deploy initiatives that reinforce sustained peace with the state before, during and after the governorship election.”
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