Ogoni youths protest Rivers polls outcome, allege killings

A group called the National Youth Council of Ogoni People (NYCOP), the youth wing of the Movement for the Survival of the Ogoni People, stormed the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) headquarters in Port Harcourt on Monday. The protest was directed at the results of the March 18, 2023 governorship and state House of Assembly elections in Rivers State, which NYCOP described as “a rape of Nigeria’s democracy.” About 100 demonstrators carried placards with slogans such as “Rivers INEC, an extension of Governor Wike’s office,” “Our democracy is not safe with INEC,” “We reject results uploaded after the declaration of winners,” and “Our votes must count.”

Barinuazor Emmanuel, president of NYCOP, addressed the crowd and accused the electoral body of colluding with certain political parties to subvert the will of the people. He claimed that 15 deaths occurred in Ogoni land during the elections but were not reported. Emmanuel said, “We are here today, as peaceful people, to say that what happened on March 18, 2023, was a rape of our democracy. INEC and some political parties denied us our will to vote. We voted in some places, but our votes did not count. Where we did not vote, they (INEC and some political parties) also manufactured votes for them. Our grandmothers, traders, youths suffered to register for Permanent Voter Cards; we also had difficulty collecting our PVCs. We paid for transport to our polling units, and in the end, what we saw was death.” He reiterated that “over 15 youths died in this election, but the media did not report the casualties,” and declared that Rivers youths reject any announced results that do not reflect the people’s will, calling INEC “a shame to our democracy.”

In response, Mr. Mark Usulor, INEC’s Head of Voter Education and Publicity in Rivers State, urged the protesters to present material evidence from the polling units so that appropriate corrective steps could be taken. He reminded them that the law entrusts election petitions to the tribunal, which has the ultimate authority to hear such cases. Usulor said he would forward the protest letter to INEC management and asked the demonstrators to “sheathe your swords.”