February 27, (THEWILL) – A middle-aged man, Gabriel Agabi, was on Sunday, arrested by the police over alleged impersonation and being in possession of 17 Bimodal Voter Accreditation System (BVAS) devices not programmed for the ward where he was arrested.
Mr Agabi, who wore an INEC reflective jacket, was arrested at the collation centre in Okpoma, Yala Local Government Area of Cross River State by security operatives.
He was later taken to Ogoja INEC’s office, where he confessed to having impersonated Abakedi.
After his confessional statement, he was taken by the police to the Ogoja Area Command for further investigation by the CID unit.
The alleged impostor claimed to be a lecturer in the philosophy department of the University of Calabar and hails from Ugoro in the Bekwarra Local Government Area of the state.
He impersonated the INEC collation officer for Yache ward, in Yala Local Government Area of the state, Dominic Abakedi.
One of the BVAS found in his possession had the following details: “BVAS No: 09/18/10/012 with 216 accredited voters and 250 votes cast.”
The impersonator, who was alleged to have been playing the script of a party, had with collaboration with others, locked up all the agents of other parties in that ward
He was also alleged to have disappeared since the close of voting around 6 pm on Saturday and only resurfaced at the senatorial district collation centre in Ogoja after 5 pm on Sunday.
A senior police officer at the scene, who preferred anonymity, confirmed the development.
Meanwhile, the Commissioner of Police in charge of elections in the district, Zannah Shettima, declined comment on the matter, stressing that he was yet to be briefed.
He said, “I don’t have the details and so I can’t speak on it.”
NAN reports that the collation of Cross River North Senatorial results was ongoing at the time of filing this report. (NAN)
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