The Cross River State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Irene Ugbo, who confirmed the arrest on Saturday when the suspects were paraded in Calabar, the state capital, said the operatives also recovered arms and ammunition from the suspects during the arrest.
Operatives of the Nigeria Police Force, Cross River State Command have arrested 16 persons who were allegedly involved in electoral crimes in Ogoja Local Government Area of the state on February 25, 2023 during the presidential and national assembly elections.
The Cross River State Police Public Relations Officer, ASP Irene Ugbo, who confirmed the arrest on Saturday when the suspects were paraded in Calabar, the state capital, said the operatives also recovered arms and ammunition from the suspects during the arrest.
Ugbo said the suspects were arrested after the police carried out a manhunt for persons alleged to have been involved in the disruption of the presidential and national assembly electoral exercise in the state.
The police authorities explained that the disruption occurred across some polling units in the state during the elections.
The police spokesperson said, “You will recall that the command had issued out several warnings to the people not to allow themselves to be used by desperate politicians during the elections and that anyone caught will have himself to blame.
“These people you see here didn’t take our warning seriously and they are some of the people that tried to disrupt the elections in Ogoja last Saturday.
“They were caught with various arms and ammunition in Ogoja and they will be punished by the law of the land.”
The PPRO added that the state police command discovered that the suspects had worked for a political candidate during the elections.
Some of the suspects were said to have claimed to be members of the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) and vigilante operatives in the Obudu Local Government Area of the state.
The suspects said they were not apprehended in Ogoja but in Obudu, adding that they were not aware of the offences against them.
One of the suspects identified as Francis Ubi, who reportedly claimed he was a coordinator of the APC in his polling unit in Obudu, said some soldiers selected him and some other persons to coordinate his voting area ahead of the elections.
Denying involvement in electoral crimes, Ubi, who explained that he was taken to the army barracks where he spent five days before he was handed to the police command in Calabar, the state capital, said, “We were brought here on trumped-up charges. I do not belong to any group or political party other than the APC where I coordinate for my polling unit in Obudu.”
Ubi further explained that “As I speak with you, over N500,000 was paid into my account to coordinate my unit during the elections and I am also a member of the vigilante. I have five others of my members here who were also arrested.
“While I was arrested in my house in Obudu, others were arrested at checkpoints in Obudu while on duty.
“Where they were arrested was approved for us to be keeping security by the council chairman who also approved the use of specific guns for us.
“I don’t understand what is happening. Those are being paraded with us, I don’t know any of them and only came to meet them here as we are being paraded.
“We (vigilantes) have been the ones keeping Obudu safe because of the level of insecurity there in recent times. We don’t understand what we are being accused of.”
However, the police spokesperson said that the suspects would be charged to court next week.
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