From Laide Raheem, Abeokuta and Lateef Dada, Osogbo
Suspected arsonists yesterday morning set an office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) at the Iyana Mortuary area of Abeokuta metropolis, the Ogun State capital, on fire.
The perpetrators, said to be hoodlums and numbering about eight, had scaled the perimeter fence of the office into the premises and set the building on fire from the back. They were reported to have soaked loaves of bread with petrol and threw the same into the building at different angles to light up the INEC office.
The security guard at the facility, Azeez Hamzat, Daily Sun learnt, had made a distress call to the police around 1am, saying the facility was on fire. The police from Ibara Division were said to have mobilised detectives to the scene, while contacting fire fighters, who raced to the scene to put out the fire. It was gathered that the store, the Registration Area Officer’s office and the conference room were affected by the inferno.
A source also told Daily Sun that non-sensitive materials were also affected by the fire. No life was said to be lost and no injury was sustained in the incident.
Meanwhile, the Ogun INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC), Niyi Ijalaye, confirmed the incident, describing it as shocking.
“It is correct that our office was set on fire. The police are investigating the incident. I do not know what to say. I’m in shock. We called the police and other security agencies at night. The fire brigade put the situation under control. The level of damage is still being assessed.
“It is very shocking and untoward. The security agencies are doing their very best. We are meeting again, later today, to come up with other strategies (towards securing our facilities),” Ijalaye said.
The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, could not be reached for comments on the incident at the time of filing this report.
Also, the INEC office in Ede-South Local Government Area of Osun State was yesterday set on fire by suspected hoodlums in what looked like a coordinated attack with the Ogun incident.
The fire, which started at the conference hall of the commission in the early hours of yesterday, was put out by the state fire service. It was gathered that the office located at the Oke-Iresi area, Ede, was also burnt with bread soaked with petroleum. The bread used to perpetrate the crime and the gallon of petroleum recovered from the scene were displayed by the fire service.
The spokesperson of the INEC in the state, Oluwaseun Osimosu, confirmed the incident. She said the REC, Dr Mutiu Agboke, would address the press at the appropriate time.