Hoodlums set Ogun INEC office on fire

• A group of thugs has set the Ogun INEC office on fire
• Thugs soaked bread loaves in gasoline after breaking into the building and threw the mixture into the structure at various angles.

The office of the Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC in Ogun was set on fire at Iyana Mortuary ll in Abeokuta, the capital of Ogun State, early on Thursday.

According to information obtained by our correspondent, a group of thugs, estimated to number eight, scaled the perimeter fence, jumped onto the property, and lit the INEC building on fire from behind.

In order to light up the INEC office, it was learned that the thugs soaked bread loaves in gasoline after breaking into the building and threw the mixture into the structure at various angles.

Further information revealed that Azeez Hamzat, a security guard at the facility, had called the police in a distress call at around 1 am to inform them of the fire incident.

According to reports, the police from the Ibara division dispatched detectives to the scene and later got in touch with members of the state’s fire service, who hurried to extinguish the flames.

Niyi Ijalaye, the Ogun INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, confirmed the incident when contacted and called it shocking. The REC stated that an assessment of the situation was ongoing.

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He said “It is correct that our office was set on fire. The police are investigating. I do not know what to say. I’m in shock myself.

“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. Security agencies are doing their very best. We are meeting again later today to come up with other strategies (toward securing our facilities).”

A source in the INEC hinted that the store, the Registration Area Officer’s office, and the conference room were affected by the inferno.

The source also told our correspondent that non-sensitive materials were also affected by the fire. “No life was lost and no injury was sustained in the fire,” the source disclosed.

The Ogun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abimbola Oyeyemi, could not be reached for comments as of the time of filing this report.

In other news, a farmer, Abidemi Dairo, has been allegedly shot by some men of the Nigeria Customs Service in front of his house in Sarumi, Ilaro, in the Yewa South Local Government Area of Ogun State.

According to PUNCH Metro,  the officers were pursuing suspected smugglers who were transporting bags of rice on motorcycles across Ifedapo village when the incident happened on Saturday.

When the police visited the scene, they reportedly picked expended bullet shells at the victim’s house, whose walls were riddled with bullets.

Dairo, who narrated the incident to our reporter, claimed to be relaxing in front of his house when he was shot.

He said, “I was relaxing in front of my house on Saturday when a Customs Hilux van sped through our village in their bid to catch smugglers.

“Some of the villagers started shouting at them because children were playing around, and at that speed, there could be an accident.

“The officers returned after apprehending the smugglers and opened fire in front of my house and I was hit by their bullets.