The office of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Abeokuta has caught fire on Thursday.
It was gathered that fire has caught the office of INEC in South local government area of Ogun, situated at Iyana Mortuary area of the state capital on Thursday.
It was gathered that the office was allegedly set ablaze by suspected hoodlums who invaded the premises of the commission through the perimeter fencing.
The hoodlums, who were about eight, were reported to have soaked loaves of bread in petrol and used them to set the commission’s building ablaze.
A source, who spoke as an anonymous, revealed that Azeez Hamzat, the security guard who was on duty, made a call through to the police at 1:00a.m., that the building has been set ablaze.
It was gathered that the police detectives from Ibara division were mobilised to the affected scene to restore normalcy in the area.
The police, according to reports, called upon fire fighters, who got to the scene to extinguish the fire.
It was reported that the Registration Area Officer office, the store and the conference room were destroyed by the five incident.
The source said that some non-sensitive materials of the electoral commission were also destroyed by the fire.
“No life was lost and no injury was sustained in the fire,” the source said.
While commenting on the incident, Mr Niyi Ijalaye, who’s the State INEC Resident Electoral Commissioner, referred to the incident as shocking.
“It is correct that our office may have been deliberately torched. The police are investigating the matter. I do not know what to say. I’m in shock myself.
”We called the police and other security agencies at night. The fire brigade put the situation under control. The level of damage is still being assessed.
“It is very shocking and untoward. The security agencies are doing their very best. We are meeting again later today to come up with other strategies toward securing our facilities,” Ijalaye said.
The spokesperson of State Police, Mr Abimbola Oyeyemi, said he would make findings on the incident before making any comment.
He added that he just received information about the occurence and would consult the Divisional Police Officer of the division for full details.