The Minister for Youth and Sports, Barrister Solomon Dalung has described violence during election in Nigeria as primitive.
He lamented the recurring incidence of violence during elections in Nigeria, with particular reference to the last Saturday’s rerun election in Rivers State during which a member of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) was killed.
“The act of violence during election is not only condemnable but is indeed a reflection of what I can refer to as primitive political culture. It is primitive for anybody to assume that he must shed blood to be able to access power.”
He appealed to politicians to play the game of politics in accordance with existing laws.
“At no point should officials and spectators of our game be made to be casualties of that game. Power is not worth the life of one single Nigerian.”
The Minister assured that the government would leave no stone unturned in ensuring that the perpetrators of the evil act are brought to book and faced the full wrath of the law.
“We want to assure Nigerians that under this administration of change, impunity will never be celebrated. Actors of the wicked act in Rivers state must be brought to book and must be punished.”
Also the NYSC Director General, Brigadier General Johnson Bamidele Olawunmi, called on the government of Rivers state to do everything possible to ensure that those who killed this innocent young man were brought to book.
“It is a shame that a society where there is a government, where there are community leaders and elders will allow an innocent corps member to be killed within where this Corps member was offering national service.”
General Olawunmi said that he had set up a Committee of Inquiry into the death of Mr. Okonta, and had mandated the Committee to go to Port-Harcourt to do a full investigation into the incident.
He commended the efforts of INEC in ensuring the safety and security of Corps members on election duty.
“INEC has been doing its best as far as the security of Corps members is concerned. I must also seize this opportunity to appreciate the security agencies for their efforts, because if not for them, perhaps it could have been more than that.”
This was even as the INEC chairman, Professor Mahmood Yakubu, who paid a condolence visit to the Director-General of NYSC, Brigadier-General insisted that nothing justified the cold blooded murder of an innocent official conducting a legitimate national assignment intended to afford citizens the right to freely choose their leaders.
Professor Yakubu, who led a high-powered delegation of the Commission consisting of National Commissioners and Directors said: “it pains INEC profoundly when life is lost in the course of conducting elections. No matter the grievances of those involved in political contest, nothing justifies the cold blooded murder of an innocent official conducting a legitimate national assignment intended to afford citizens the right to freely choose their leaders.”
He assured that the Commission would fully participate in honouring the sacrifice of late Okonta Samuel and other members of the NYSC who may have suffered injury or even worse in the course of election duty in Nigeria in any way the NYSC considered appropriate.
Okonta Samuel, a serving Youth Corps member, lost his life as an ad-hoc election official during the Saturday 19th March, 2016 Rivers state re-run elections. [myad]
