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Thugs have encroached on the Adejare Polling Unit in Ilasa, Oshodi/Isolo Local Government Area of Lagos State in large numbers in an effort to scatter voters who were waiting for officials and ad hoc staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission to start voting for the ongoing governorship and state assembly election.

Arome Solomon, an eyewitness, claimed that as of 10:12 am, INEC officials were yet to be seen, leaving many voters stuck till the thugs on the adjacent street broke into the voting place brandishing daggers and other sharp things to scatter them.

“Policemen are also not present. The people have all run away and are not willing to return,” he added.

Another observer who wished to remain anonymous and who also serves as a party agent reported seeing no police officers at Polling Unit 052, Olusoji Street, off Afariogun, Oshodi.

He added, “I was driven out of the area by suspected All Progressives Congress thugs after confirming that I am an agent of the opposition party.

“They seized my phone and checked through it to confirm that I haven’t recorded their activities.

“They also chased away non-indigenes despite registering at many of the polling units threatening to beat them if they resist,” he maintained.

In Abeokuta, the state capital of Ogun, four perpetrators were detained with a gun and a knife as they made their way to voting booths.

On Saturday morning, when voting for the state house of representatives and governorship got underway, the hoodlums were apprehended in Sapon in the Abeokuta-South Local Government Area.

Four people have been caught with hazardous weapons, including a gun and a knife, according to a soldier at the Sapon roadblock who did not want his name published since he was not authorized to comment on the situation.

He said, “When you see soldiers being hard on anyone, he is not just punishing anyone.

“We arrested four people with guns and knives. What are they doing with the gun and knife at the polling unit?

“I ask you, can you tell me what a voter wants to do with a gun and a knife?

“If they escape from the police, they cannot escape from soldiers; we will catch them.”

Another alleged hoodlum was apprehended by security personnel and was afterwards seen performing a frog jump beneath the Sapon bridge.

Armed soldiers enforced a restriction order in Osogbo, Osun State, leaving many voters stopped as they attempted to travel to their polling places on Saturday.

For disobeying the restriction order, the affected electorate—primarily those who resided in the Owode, Ede, area—were hauled before the Osun State House of Assembly.

The voters showed their permanent voter cards when TV crews arrived, but the military ignored all of their pleas.

Taofeek Badmus, a lawmaker running for reelection in the Osogbo State Constituency, was seen pleading with the military to let the crowd move.

But, when approached Badmus for a statement, he declined.

Mr. Tajudeen Olajide, one of the voters, stated that he was living in Ede and intended to drive to Osogbo to cast his ballot when the troops halted his car.

He said, “I am living in Owode Area (Ede) and I wanted to move to Osogbo to vote. I wanted to move very early in the morning and despite that, soldiers stopped me there. I have been here since 5 am and yet they won’t allow me to move with my vehicle.

“I was given the option of moving without my vehicle but my polling unit is not nearby. I can’t trek down. Help us plead with them.”

Senior security officials who were also on duty for the state’s elections stated the soldiers had received a thorough briefing on their responsibilities and that the movement restrictions were in place to stop hoodlums from interfering with the voting.

Protest broke out in the Registration Area Center of the Independent National Electoral Commission, which is housed in the Amuwo-Odofin Nursery and Primary School in Mile 2, Lagos, over the INEC’s delay in paying its ad hoc personnel.

Ad hoc employees reportedly claimed that they were each guaranteed NGN15,000 before they left the RAC but that they hadn’t received their money as of past 9am.

“We were told that we would get NGN15,000 before we leave here,” said a member of the ad hoc staff who went by the name Matthew. “But they are yet to pay and are even threatening us.”

At the three polling places within the school, voting has already started.

Saturday’s Governorship and House of Assembly will undoubtedly spring surprises and upsets just like what was seen during the February 25 Presidential and National Assembly elections when top contenders lost out in the contest.

In Lagos State, the incumbent governor, Babajide Sanwo-Olu is desperately seeking to retain his seat after the president-elect, Asiwaju Bola Tinubu, was defeated in Lagos by Peter Obi’s Labour Party.

This has sent a wrong signal to the ruling All Progressives Congress ahead of Saturday’s governorship election.

For the House of Assembly election, the race for Surulere constituency (1) in the Lagos State House of Assembly is a political battle to watch.

When voters in Surulere Constituency file out to choose their representative for Lagos State House of Assembly, Veteran actor, Desmond Elliot and his junior colleague, Olumide Oworu, would be on the frontlines.

Oworu, a Nigerian actor, model, and rapper, was born on December 11, 1994. He attended King’s College, Lagos. He graduated from Babcock University in June 2017. 

Oworu commenced his acting career at the age of six with the television series Everyday People. 

He is also known for his role as Tari in the Africa Magic Series The Johnsons. 

He also starred in other television series such as The Patriot, The Men In Her Life, Hammer, Stolen Waters, and New Son. He portrayed the character ‘Weki’ in MTV Base’s Shuga series, seasons 3 and 4.

Oworu has won several awards including the “Mr. Popularity” prize in the Model of Africa 2012 contest, the Nollywood Revelation of The Year award at the Scream Awards 2014, and The Most Promising Youth Actor award at Ping Awards 2014.

 He won the Most Promising actor in the 2015 Best of Nollywood Awards and Best Supporting actor for his role in the Soldier’s Story in the 2016 Africa Magic Viewers Choice Awards.

The young actor recently followed the footstep of his senior colleagues as he unveiled his political ambition having secured the ticket of the Labour Party (LP) to contest for a seat in the Lagos House of Assembly. 

The 28-year-old Mass Communication graduate is vying for Surulere Constituency 1 seat, a position occupied for the last eight years by Elliot.

Elliot of the All Progressives Congress (APC), has been a member of the state House of Assembly since 2015. He defeated Bayo Smith, candidate of the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), to clinch the seat.

While unveiling his campaign poster, Oworu, popularly known as Tari in Johnson Series, wrote an account, “It is with a sense of honour and duty that I announce my candidacy for membership of The Lagos State House of Assembly – Surulere Constituency 1 on the platform of The Labour Party.

“The youth of this generation in Nigeria are more politically aware than ever and are now striving to have our voices heard and take part in the government process of this great country.

 “As someone with a passion for youth development, it is on this note that I tender myself in service to playing my part in the actualization of an all-inclusive government, where the young Nigerian intellectuals have a chance to make a change by being a part of the move for the creation of a new Nigeria. Thank you for your support. A new Nigeria is Possible.”

Oworu also shared his thoughts on what he expects from life with his new ambition. In a post via Instagram earlier this week, he said, “50 years from now, I will look back at this period and be proud of myself.”

Oworu is a greenhorn politically, but he is riding on the sweeping and growing acceptability of Obi’s Labour Party in Nigeria’s political space, especially in Lagos State. 

Through his ‘Obidients’ movement, Obi apart from winning Lagos State had influenced the emergence of many Senators-elect and House of Representatives members-elect, many of whom were relatively unknown before the February 25 election.

In the Eti-Osa Federal constituency of Lagos, the Labour Party’s Thaddeus Attah defeated Singer Bankole Wellington, popularly known as Banky W, who contested on the platform of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), and Babajide, son of Musiliu Obanikoro, a former minister of state for defense, who currently represents the constituency at the green chamber.

Oworu has become a major threat to Elliot’s third-term bid in the Lagos Assembly. 

Also, Elliot has fallen out of favour with many youths due to some comments he made during the #EndSARS protest in 2020.

He has been consistently dragged on social media after referring to Nigerian youths who reacted to the shootings at the Lekki Tollgate as children. He pushed for the regulation of social media after the protest.

However, in a swift response, Elliot had October 2020 issued a statement in which he apologized to those whose toes he stepped on with his comments.

The apology, perhaps, has not been “accepted” as many youths have resumed hostility against the lawmaker ahead of Saturday’s election.

Italy’s highest appeal court has ordered a retrial for two US men convicted of killing a police officer in Rome while on holiday, in a case that scandalised the country.

In a verdict late Wednesday, the Court of Cassation in Rome overturned the sentences handed down to Finnegan Elder, 23, and Gabriel Natale-Hjorth, 22, and granted both a new appeal.

The pair had been sentenced to life in prison in May 2021 for stabbing to death policeman Mario Cerciello Rega while they were teenagers in a drugs’ bust gone wrong two years earlier in Rome.

An appeal court in March 2022 reduced their sentences by giving 24 years prison time to Elder, who wielded the weapon, and 22 years to Natale-Hjorth, who helped hide the weapon after the attack. Prosecutors said his actions earlier in the evening led to the murder.

“We are satisfied with the annulment of the sentence,” said Roberto Capra, the lawyer for Elder, whose new appeal is expected to consider aggravating circumstances.

“There will be a new trial on the heart of the matter – whether the carabinieri (police) identified themselves as members of law enforcement,” he added, saying this raised the potential of a new, lower sentence being imposed.

The encounter between the two teenagers and the police officer and his partner on a dark Rome street lasted just 30 seconds.

Elder has admitted to stabbing Cerciello with an 11-inch (28-centimetre) knife, but he and Natale-Hjorth testified they were jumped from behind by Cerciello and his partner Andrea Varriale, both in plain clothes.

They claim they did not know the men were police, believing them to be drug dealers following the Americans’ botched attempt to buy drugs earlier in the evening.

But Varriale, the prosecution’s main witness, testified that he and Cerciello approached the teens from the front and identified themselves as police.

Lawyers for the Americans had sharply criticised the life sentences, Italy’s stiffest penalty.

They argue the lower courts have ignored inconsistencies in the testimony of Varriale – who has admitted to lying after the attack – that give credence to the defendants’ version of events.

The murder of Cerciello, who was newly married, scandalised Italy while also raising doubts about police conduct after Natale-Hjorth was blindfolded while in custody.

The officer who blindfolded him was handed a two-month suspended sentence last month.

A coalition of over 80 human rights organisations under the aegis of Nigerian Civil Society Situation Room in Abuja on Thursday raised fears over likely violence in the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections.

The Situation Room called on security agencies to act quickly especially in some flashpoints.

The organisation identified Lagos, Rivers, Imo, Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu and Kano states as flashpoints, adding that it would deploy 2,340 election observers, including 131 Persons Living with Disabilities, with at least three election observers in each of the 774 local government areas, excluding the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.

The Convener of the NCSSR, Ene Obi, stated these while reading a preliminary statement on the pre-election environment ahead of the Governorship and State Houses of Assembly elections.

The event was also attended by co-conveners, Asma’u Joda and James UgoChukwu and Executive Director of Policy and Legal Advocacy Centre who was also a former Convener of NCSSR, Clement Nwankwo.

Situation Room said it expected that INEC had taken lessons from the challenges experienced during the Presidential and National Assembly elections held on February 25 2023, and “made adequate arrangements to forestall the recurrence of the gaps observed during the elections.”

He added, “Situation Room also expects that the glitches that led to the malfunctioning of the INEC Result Viewing Portal have been resolved, and that the issues that occasioned the inability of the commission to conduct elections in some polling units and late opening of polls in others have been addressed.

“In particular, the Situation Room calls on INEC to address the shortages in the number of ad hoc staff available for the elections, make adequate transportation arrangements, conduct additional training for the ad hoc staff, and promptly reconfigure and deploy the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System and other materials required for the elections and most importantly, ensure that it communicates in a timely manner to the public on any challenges or changes made to the electoral process.

“Your fears are my fears. That’s why the security agencies must act. We are not seeing actions, even where people have been indicted for election violence. We should all stand up for Nigeria.

“We are asking the people of Rivers State to maintain peace. The few women on the ballot papers should be protected in this weekend’s election. Security agencies should protect women and should ensure that every vote counts.

“Ahead of the elections, the security situation across the country appears tense, with reports of violence, kidnap and assassination in several States including Lagos, Rivers, Imo, Abia, Ebonyi, Enugu and Kano. As such, Situation Room reminds the Nigeria Police and other security agencies that they have a primary responsibility to guarantee the safety and security of election officials as well as other election stakeholders, including voters, polling agents, election observers, the media and service providers.

“Security agencies should take adequate measures to forestall the recurrence of acts of voter suppression, disruption of voting, and outright violence experienced in some places during the Presidential and National Assembly elections. Furthermore, the Situation Room calls on the Nigeria Police and other security agencies to ensure that they are non-partisan, professional and will avoid any actions capable of being interpreted as acting in support of any political interest.

“The Independent National Electoral Commission should communicate with Nigerians. We are saying, let the process work. Nigerians should hold INEC accountable.”

The altercation between members of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party and the All Progressives Congress on Thursday in Ibadan, which reportedly left three persons dead, was confirmed by the Oyo State Police Command on Friday.

The Ile-tuntun neighborhood in the Ibadan South-East Local Government Area was the scene of the altercation.

Adewale Osifeso, the state police public relations officer, said the deputy commissioner of police in charge of the state criminal investigation and intelligence department had been ordered to lead an investigative team to the scene of the incident. Osifeso made the announcement during a call-in segment on Fresh FM Ibadan.

Osifeso said, “Yes, the unfortunate incident did occur yesterday, and as we speak investigation has commenced into unraveling the root cause of the incident. Oyo State is the cradle of sophistication and the world depends on Oyo for a lot of things, we should not continue in the trajectory known for hooliganism.

“Elections will come and go but people will be there.”

The police spokesperson pleaded with leaders, parents, and guardians to convince their wards not to be used as a tool to thwart the election.

According to report, PDP members in passing automobiles reportedly harassed APC supporters and started hurling things at them as they were holding a meeting at the party office in Iyana Court, Ile-tuntun in Ibadan.

An eyewitness said, “The PDP then got angry, and when (they) retaliated, a leading member of the party and a member of the House of Representatives then picked a gun and fired gunshots at the APC members. That was what led to a free for all.

“The provoked attack saw many members of the APC injured with one of the party’s House of Assembly candidates escaped by the whiskers.”

Assistant Commissioner of Police Sunday Ubua’s request to be granted to bail was rejected by the Court of Appeal in Abuja.

The National Drug Law Enforcement Agency is pursuing criminal charges against Ubua and suspended Deputy Commissioner of Police Abba Kyari for unauthorized drug sales and other offenses.

A three-member panel of the appellate court ruled on Friday that the appeal by Ubua was without merit and upheld the judge’s decision from March 28, 2022.

The March 28 ruling denied Ubua’s request for release on the grounds that the prosecution had presented the court with enough evidence to support the denial of the bail request.

In the lead judgment, Judge Stephen Adah stated that the appellant had not provided any fresh evidence to the court that would have caused it to rescind Justice Emeka Nwite of the Federal High Court of Abuja’s prior ruling on the matter.

On charges of illegal drug dealing and attempting to tamper with evidence, Ubua is on trial with Kyari and three other former members of the Nigeria Police Force’s Intelligence Response Unit, Force Investigation, and Intelligence Department.

The Anambra State Police Command has denied the rumor that Department of State Service security guards were involved in the March 16 slaying of a middle-aged man in Ogidi.

The command announced this in a statement on Friday through its spokesperson, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, and added that the Ogidi homicide was committed by a vigilante member, not DSS officers as had been falsely claimed.

The statement read, “The attention of our Command has been drawn to a misleading story purporting that security agents from DSS were responsible for the murder of a middle-aged man in Ogidi on March 16, 2023.

“The Command owes a duty to the public to correct the erroneous report.

“The deceased was shot by a member of the Vigilante group in the area. On receiving the report at about 0200 hrs, the police moved in swiftly and effected the arrest of the assailant who was found with a Pump Action Gun.

“The assailant was disarmed and taken into custody for interrogation and comprehensive investigation.”

Aderemi Adeoye, the state’s election commissioner of police, expressed his condolences to the victim’s family while assuring the public that the homicide would be thoroughly investigated and that the perpetrator would be brought before a judge to be brought to account.

He expressed his gratitude to the Ogidi youths for ensuring the protest was peaceful.

He also valued the traditional leaders who acted as mediators to soothe ruffled tempers.

However, the CP asked the populace to uphold the law while assuring them that the police will always defend their basic human rights.