was briefly detained and
harassed at Ward 1 in Ogboko
village, Ideato South Local
Government Area of Imo
state.
The journalist who was duly
accredited to cover the
elections was banned from the
centre by men who appeared
to be thugs after they
temporarily ceased his
working materials.
The centre is where the
outgoing governor of the
state, Rochas Okorocha, is
expected to vote later today.
He is from Ogboko village.
Mr Okorocha is contesting for
the Imo West senatorial seat
under the ruling All
Progressives Congress (APC).
There are four polling points
at the Ogboko ward 1 unit 1
centre.
The reporter, Ebuka Onyeji,
arrived at the polling centre
around 8:30 a.m. but no
personnel nor materials were
present.
He then went to a nearby RAC centre only
to discover that materials were still being
moved to the polling units as at 9:10 am.
When he later came back to the centre at
9:20 a.m, officials had arrived but still
setting up their tables.
One of the presiding officers said the
delay was caused by the sorting of
materials and accreditation of party
agents.
Shortly afterwards, the reporter was
accosted by two men not wearing an
official uniform or election tags. They
demanded the reporter’s identification.
The thugs immediately started harassing
the journalist even after showing them
his accredited INEC tag and ID card. The
reporter was also wearing the INEC vest
for accredited journalists.
The reporter’s vehicle was then
surrounded by many other thugs who
joined in the confrontation.
“Call who sent you here. Anybody can
print this your tag”, one of the thugs said.
He ordered that the journalist’s laptop,
gadgets and other materials be seized.
“You don’t know you are in Rochas
Okorocha’s polling booth and you say you
want to observe elections?”
R207 R199 R450 R93
-59%
R25 R171 R201 R146
There were only two female police
officers stationed at the centre. They had
no guns. Both of them watched as the
thugs attacked the journalist.
After Mr Onyeji approached one of the
policewomen to introduce himself, she
also demanded that he place a call “to the
person that sent you.”
Despite Mr Onyeji placing the call to the
PREMIUM TIMES office and an editor
speaking with the police officer, the
harassment continued.
The thugs then slapped, kicked and beat
the journalist’s driver when he tried to
complain about the harassment.
The centre was controlled by the thugs
who appeared to be working for the
governor.
They eventually gave the reporter back
his properties with a stern warning to
leave and never to return to the centre
again.
There are 13 wards in Ideato South LGA
and elections were yet to start in most
polling units there as at 10:00 a.m.
A party agent of Action Alliance, AA,
attributed the delays to confusion in
accredited the party agents of the two
APC factions in the state.
R289 R89 R93 R142
R160 R219 R336 R150
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February 23, 2019 Ebuka Onyeji
Imo State Governor, Rochas Okorocha
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Ebuka Onyeji
Ebuka Onyeji is a health reporter at
PREMIUM TIMES. He also has a penchant
for music and art. Ebuka holds a
degree in Mass communication from
Anambra State University.
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