Tragedy hit the
relatively peaceful Edo governorship election as three policemen and an
ad hoc worker of the Independent National Electoral Commission died in a
boat accident on Saturday.
The victims of the boat accident included two inspectors .
A speedboat, said to be
conveying five policemen, some corps members, one prison official, INEC
officials and electoral materials, reportedly capsised at Oloku, a
riverside community in Edo state.
It was learnt that INEC contracted out the transportation of materials to the riverside communities.
State Commissioner of
Police, Femi Adenaike, alleged that the boat operator was under the
infuence of alcohol when the accident occurred.
He added that the boat was overloaded.
Adenaike said the
contractors, who handled the tranportation of the electoral materials to
Oloku, had been arrested in connection with the accident.
Adenaika confirmed the death of the policemen and the arrest of the contractors.
He said, “INEC handled
the transportation of personnel and electoral materials; it was
contracted out. Unfortunately, the captain of the boat was drunk in
addition to the boat being overloaded.
“The captain sped
recklessly and the boat capsized; the captain who didn’t drown, escaped.
Two inspectors and a Corporal died while two policemen survived. Some
youth corps members and a prison official also survived. We shall have
more details when we start investigation.”
Adenaike added that INEC had made no request to the police for assistance with transportation on the waters.
He said, “We have a marine police
department. If INEC had asked the Inspector General of Police for
assistance, he would have provided boats from Lagos, Port Harcourt or
Ilorin. However, they made no such request. I can tell you that the
contractors have been arrested and are in detention.”
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