23 missing as thugs disrupt community election in Delta
About 23 persons are still missing from Tuomo community in Burutu Local Government Area of Delta State, where thugs were said to have disrupted an election of executive members.
Community sources alleged that thugs invaded the election, shot sporadically and whisked away the traditional prime minister of the town, Mike Loyibo and 25 others.
But as Tuesday, Loyibo and two others had returned to the community.
Narrating his ordeal, Loyibo said he had gone to witness the election when the thugs came to disrupt the process, attacked him and others.
“The security men on sighting the thugs with dangerous weapons fled and I was kidnapped by some of the assailants, who demanded that I should pay N1 billion to be freed. In the process argument ensued among them and I managed to escape from the scene and took a cover. It was in that place that soldiers came to rescue me,” he said.
Trouble was said to have started after a court on July 19, 2021 sacked the community chairman, from office and disqualified him from contesting for not being lettered.
A local source said the court went ahead to order the community leadership to conduct another election for the two candidates who earlier contested.
“At the election ground, the former chairman came with thugs brandishing matchets and other dangerous weapons to disrupt the process. The former chairman even went to the community radio house and announced that nobody can remove him from office,” the source said.
In his reaction, the secretary of Tuomo community, Hebrew Coastman, said: “the truth of the matter is that the whole of Tuomo community went to disrupt the process because of foul play.
First, we don’t believe the purported court judgement emanated from the court because nobody from our party was present at the court.
“Again, there were two more candidates brought in to contest and the whole community saw that there was a foul play and trooped out to disrupt the process,” he said.
(Daily Sun)
