{"id":103730,"date":"2023-03-19T04:33:43","date_gmt":"2023-03-19T03:33:43","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/?p=103730"},"modified":"2023-03-19T04:33:43","modified_gmt":"2023-03-19T03:33:43","slug":"inec-confirms-kidnap-release-of-19-ad-hoc-staff-in-imo","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pointblanknews.com\/pbn\/news\/inec-confirms-kidnap-release-of-19-ad-hoc-staff-in-imo\/","title":{"rendered":"INEC confirms kidnap, release of 19 ad hoc staff in Imo"},"content":{"rendered":"<div id=\"m#msg-f:1760743510116813544\" class=\"mail-message expanded\">\n<div class=\"mail-message-header spacer\" style=\"text-align: justify;\">The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Saturday, confirmed the kidnap of 19 members of its ad hoc staff while on their way to conduct the House of Assembly election in Ideato South Local Government Area of Imo.<\/div>\n<div class=\"mail-message-content collapsible zoom-normal mail-show-images \" style=\"text-align: justify;\">\n<div class=\"clear\">\n<div dir=\"auto\">\n<div dir=\"auto\">\nINEC\u2019s Resident Electoral Commissioner for Imo, Prof. Sylvia Agu disclosed this in a statement on Saturday in Owerri.<\/p>\n<p>Pointblanknews.com gathered that they were,\u00a0 however,\u00a0 released following intervention by security agents but election materials including BVAS machines are still missing.<\/p>\n<p>Agu said: \u201cThe attention of the commission has been drawn to a report from Ugbelle Registration Area (06) in Ideato South Local Government Area of Imo state where thugs carted away all electoral materials and took our staff hostage for some hours during the March 18 House of Assembly election.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cThe security forces were informed and a rescue operation was mounted.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cPresently, all ad hoc staff on hostage have been rescued but no trace of the election materials.<\/p>\n<p>\u201cWhile the commission remains grateful to the security operatives, it condemns such acts of thuggery, intimidation and disenfranchisement of voters and urge the public to continue to have confidence in the electoral process,\u201d Agu stated.<\/p>\n<p>The REC said a full statement on the matter will be issued later.<\/p><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<\/div>\n<div class=\"mail-message-footer spacer collapsible\" style=\"text-align: justify;\"><\/div>\n<\/div>\n<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on the_content --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on the_content -->","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Saturday, confirmed the kidnap of 19 members of its ad hoc staff while on their way to conduct the House of Assembly election&hellip;<!-- AddThis Advanced Settings generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Share Buttons generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><!-- AddThis Related Posts generic via filter on wp_trim_excerpt --><\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":103398,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-103730","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v26.8 - 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