BY Maryam Abdullahi
The Cross River police command says 16 persons suspected to be involved in electoral crimes have been arrested in Ogoja LGA of the state.
Irene Ugbo, police spokesperson in the state, said arms and ammunition were recovered from the suspects during the arrest on Saturday.
Ugbo said the suspects were apprehended after the police carried out a manhunt for persons alleged to be involved in the disruption of the electoral exercise in the state.
The disruption was said to have occurred across some polling units in the state during the presidential and national assembly elections held on February 25.
“You will recall that the command had issued out several warnings to the people not to allow themselves to be used by desperate politicians during the elections and that anyone caught will have himself to blame,” she said.
“These people you see here didn’t take our warning seriously and they are some of the people that tried to disrupt the elections in Ogoja last Saturday.
“They were caught with various arms and ammunition in Ogoja and they will be punished by the law of the land.”
She said the command discovered that the suspects had worked for a political candidate during the elections.
While being paraded, some of the suspects were said to have claimed they were members of the All Progressives Congress (APC) and vigilante operatives in Obudu LGA.
The suspects said they were not apprehended in Ogoja but in Obudu, adding that they are not aware of the offences against them.
Francis Ubi, one of the suspects who claimed he was a coordinator of the APC in his polling unit in Obudu, said some soldiers selected him and some other persons to coordinate his voting area ahead of the elections.
Ubi said he was taken to the army barracks where he spent five days before he was handed to the police command in Calabar, the state capital.
“We were brought here on trumped-up charges. I do not belong to any group or political party other than the APC where I coordinate for my polling unit in Obudu,” the suspect said.
“As I speak with you, over N500,000 was paid into my account to coordinate my unit during the elections and I am also a member of the vigilante. I have five others of my members here who were also arrested.
“While I was arrested in my house in Obudu, others were arrested at checkpoints in Obudu while on duty.
“Where they were arrested was approved for us to be keeping security by the council chairman who also approved the use of specific guns for us.
“I don’t understand what is happening. Those are being paraded with us I don’t know any of them and only came to meet them here as we are being paraded.
“We (vigilantes) have been the ones keeping Obudu safe because of the level of insecurity there in recent times. We don’t understand what we are being accused of.”
The police spokesperson added that the suspects will be charged in court next week.
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