Some unknown persons in the early hours of Wednesday attacked and set ablaze two offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Ebonyi State, Nigeria’s South-east.
The offices are located at Ezza North and Izzi local government areas of the state.
INEC spokesperson in Ebonyi State, Cornelius Ali, confirmed the attack to reporters in Abakaliki.
Ali said the fire destroyed power generating sets, voting cubicles and other materials in the affected facilities.
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The commission’s officials in the state have visited the facilities to assess the level of damage, Mr Ali said.
He, however, allayed fears that the attack might jeopardise the forthcoming continuous voter registration exercise slated for June.
“Early this morning, we got a report that some persons have attacked and set our local government area offices in Ezza North and Izzi LGAs ablaze, destroying valuables belonging to the commission.
“When we got there, we saw that buildings housing our offices have been razed while generators, cubicles and other INEC materials in these offices have been completely destroyed,” Ali said.
The spokesperson said the arsonists had inflicted heavy loss on the commission but noted that the attack would not deter it from carrying out its statutory responsibilities to the people.
The police spokesperson in the state, Loveth Odah declined comment on the incident when contacted by NAN.
INEC offices have been similarly attacked in other states in the South-east and the South-south regions lately.
The attacks, including those targeted at police and other security agencies, appeared to have been deliberately planned to undermine state institutions and authorities in the regions.
