Police arrest supervisor over hijack of DDC machines in Ebonyi

Posted by admin Ebonyi, State News Sunday, January 16th, 2011

A supervisor (name withheld) recruited by the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, Ebonyi State, was arrested, weekend, by the state Police Command for allegedly hijacking materials, including the Direct Data Capturing, DDC, machines meant for Ikwo Local Government Area of the state.

According to source, men of the state police command working on a tip off, trailed the supervisor and intercepted him in Abakaliki while trying to divert the materials to an undisclosed location.

He said the supervisor was currently being detained at the police headquarters, Abakaliki.

When contacted, the State Police Commissioner, CP Dipo Ayeni, denied knowledge of the arrest but the Administrative Officer of the Commission, Mr. Peter Nwoko, told newsmen that the Resident Electoral Commissioner, Mr. Humphrey Nwangene, would brief journalists on the matter to ascertain the true position of things.

Meanwhile, INEC has mobilized 3,344 adhoc staff to various centres across the 13 local government areas of the state to ensure that no stone was left unturned in the ongoing voters’ registration.

The staff, who were fully trained and mobilized by the commission, were posted to the 1,784 centres mapped out for the exercise, even as they would have the opportunity to operate the 1,772 Direct Data Capturing machines made available to INEC in the state.

Earlier, the Resident Electoral Commissioner in the state, Chief Humphrey Nwangene, noted that the commission had been fully mobilized for the exercise, adding that the centres designated for the exercise were put in place to ensure that nobody was left out.

The REC, spoke through the Administrative Officer of the Commission, Mr. Peter Nwoko, said: “This initial delay is general. We expect a very smooth and successful exercise as long as the person comes out, he or she will be registered. We have 14 days to go. As long as they come out within those periods between 8am and 5pm , they must be registered, that is the guarantee.”wp_posts