The Anambra Police Command has assured voters in Ihiala Local Government Area of the state of a hitch-free supplementary election.
Speaking with reporters on Tuesday at the Uzoakwa Headquarters of Ihiala, Commissioner of Police in Anambra, Echeng Echeng, said that adequate police officers have been deployed to the area.
The police boss also asked eligible voters to come out and exercise their civic duties, adding that there was no cause for alarm.
“We have made our deployment, it is very robust and we are confident that we are going to conduct elections in every location that we are supposed to have elections in Ihiala today.”
“We are not saying that there is no fear, there is fear everywhere as far as Anambra is concerned but we have had elections in 20 Local Government Areas, this is just one Local Government Area.
“With what we have on ground including the Police, Army, NSCDC, DSS and others, we are going to handle the situation,” he said.
In a related development, sounds of gunshots have been reported outside Abobot Girls Secondary School, in Uzokwa Ward 3 of Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State.
At the moment, it could not be confirmed if the gunshot was a show of force by security operatives, non-state actors or some hoodlums.
Voting had started peacefully and the exercise was going smoothly across polling units in Uzokwa Ward 3 earlier until the gunshots rented the air.
Also, no single electoral officer was sighted at Abobot Girls Secondary School, Uzokwa Ward 3 at about 12:00 PM today.
The ward alone, according to reports, has no fewer than 20 Polling Units and is just a stone throw from the Ihiala Local Government Area Headquarters, yet no staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission arrived at the expected hour to proceed with the last lap of the state governorship election.
This article was originally published on Naija News