2019 elections: 1,542 electoral offenders go scot-free – report

Over 1,542 suspects arrested for aiding violence and attempting to disrupt the 2019 general elections have been released, a civil rights organisation, under the aegis of Kimpact Development Initiative, has said.

The election monitoring group said that such acts were capable of institutionalising violence and disenfranchising genuine voters in future elections if they knew they would not be penalised.

The KDI raised the alarm in Abuja on Friday during an interactive session with journalists on the post-election report of last Saturday’s Edo State governorship election.

The programme was moderated by the group’s Executive Director, Bukola Idowu, and executive members; Femi Adebayo and Raji Ademola.

Idowu said, “The truth of the matter is that 1,542 persons who were arrested for electoral violence in the 2019 general elections have been released one way or the other.

“Up till today, we are still waiting for them to be prosecuted, but nobody knows their whereabouts. We have protested over this many times, but nobody is listening to us anymore.” Punch