Assembly Polls: Police Arrest 5 Armed Thugs Recruited By Ihiala Council Officials In Anambra 

By Raymond Ozoji,  Awka

The Commissioner of Police in charge of the 2023 House of Assembly elections in Anambra state, CP Aderemi Adeoye, says they have arrested  5 thugs with Pump Action guns allegedly recruited by Ihiala local government officials.

A video evidence where the CP confirmed the arrests as shared by the Police Public Relations Officer of the Anambra State Police Command, DSP Ikenga Tochukwu Anthony, revealed that the police had earlier warned that it would not tolerate any form of thuggery or malpractices of any kind during the assembly polls in the state. He said the election must follow strictly the guidelines of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC).

CP Adeoye said, “Local Government officials in Ihiala brought in armed thugs. The thugs have been arrested. They are 5 in number and 5 pump actions were recovered from them. They have been detained.

“We did warn that we will not tolerate thuggery. We will not tolerate ballot box snatching and we will come down hard on anyone who violates the electoral act and guidelines for the conduct of the election as stipulated by INEC. So these ones that we have arrested have violated the conduct of the election.”

When contacted at 10:47 am on Saturday to react to the claim of the police that Ihiala local government officials recruited armed thugs to thwart the House of Assembly elections in the council area, the Transition Committee Chairman of Ihiala local government area, Hon. Kingsley Obi did not take phone calls from our correspondent.