Stephen Ukandu, Umuahia
Police in Anambra State said they had launched investigation into the alleged discovery of a bag full of Permanent Voter’s Cards, PVCs, inside a forest in the state.
The bag containing large number of PVCs was said to have been discovered inside the forest by a hunter in Akamili community, Nnewi, Anambra State.
According to the police, the discovery was made on Tuesday and later taken to the premises of a popular radio station, Authority FM.
Ikengaonline reports that the discovery has sparked outrage on the social media as people allege it was a deliberate ploy to diminish the electoral fortunes of the presidential candidate of the Labour Party, Mr Peter Obi, in the states considered his strongholds.
The Manager of the radio station, Mr Charles Ede, who spoke to journalists, said he was off duty when the cards were brought, but his employees had confirmed the development to him.
“I was off duty when the incident happened, but one of the staff members received the hunter when he came.”
A video of the PVCs, which was made in the compound of the radio house in Nnewi, and which has been trending online, showed that most of the PVCs belonged to people of the area.
The radio station’s employee, who ran a short commentary on the video, urged those who had yet to get their PVCs to come to the premises of the FM to check if they could find theirs.
It was also gathered that most of the PVCs were owned by people from the Nnewi South Local Government Area.
An employee of Authority FM, who identified himself as Ikenna, confirmed that he received the PVCs, and that they had all been taken to the Obi of Umudim community in Nnewi.
But reacting to the development, the state police spokesman, DSP Tochukwu Ikenga, said the command had not received any such complaint.
Ikenga said, “The command has not received any such complaint from the concerned authority, following the emergence of a video claiming that a hunter found some PVCs in a forest at Nnewi.
“Given the above, the Commissioner of Police, CP Echeng Echeng, has ordered investigations into the video to unravel the circumstances surrounding the incident and possibly arrest the suspects behind the act.
“Therefore, the command is constrained to make further comments and any development in this regard shall be communicated.”
