Bomb hits INEC office in Suleja
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- Category: April 2011 Polls
- Published on Friday, 08 April 2011 20:29
- Written by Admin
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The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) has announced that a bomb explosion hit its office in Suleja, hours before polls are due to open for parliamentary elections.
The number of casualties wasn’t clear, Kayode Idowu, INEC’s spokesman said in a phone interview from Abuja today but it is likely many people were in the office, preparing for voting on Saturday.
Suleja, which is about 50 kilometers (31 miles) north of the capital, Abuja, was rocked by an attack on March 3 that killed 10 people when explosives were hurled a rally of the People’s Democratic Party.
The vote is a prelude to the presidential contest next week that pits Goodluck Jonathan against 18 rivals, including former military ruler Muhammadu Buhari and the ex-head of the anti- graft agency, Nuhu Ribadu, who is the candidate of the Action Congress of Nigeria. On April 26, voters choose the governors and legislatures of Nigeria’s 36 states.
On Thursday, one person was killed in a bomb blast in the northern city of Kaduna. Several other explosive devices have been defused by the security forces, who had earlier warned of a plot to disrupt the election.
Voting had already begun last Saturday, and millions were queuing, when it was discovered that ballot papers and result sheets were missing in some parts of the country. The vote has been postponed again in those areas, because it was not possible to replace ballot papers in time.
