ibadan, Nigeria (cnn) , separate explosions ripped through polling and a centre for classification in Northeast Nigeria Saturday as the most populous nation in Africa has started to vote in elections marred by violence and delays.
The first explosion occurred at a polling station in the city of Maiduguri, said the spokesman for the National Emergency Management Agency Yushau Shuaib. No deaths have been reported. the number of injuries was yet unknown.
The second explosion has also reported to Maiduguri, in the Centre of ranking Abba Ganaram, Shuaib said, adding that the explosion was caused "serious injuries". It was not immediately clear how many people died.
Also Shuaib in Maiduguri, armed youths has defined a bright Government building, said.
A new head of election promised "free and fair" elections this year, but the election has already been ruined by attacks in bombings, murders and the logistical problems that have delayed the vote. Concerns are that continued violence could derail the vote total.
Nigerians began to vote Saturday for 360 seats in house of representatives and 109 seats in the Senate. The voting structure offset will take their return to the polls Saturday to vote for a President and 26 April for a vote of Governors.
Despite domestic and international pressure, Electoral Commission of Nigeria was forced to delay the elections by a week after a logistical disaster of the country - of many materials to vote was not yet in the country until the day of the election and party logos were missing from ballots.
This is a huge setback, reminiscent of the problems of Nigeria's 2007 election, described by the European Union as the worst he had seen anywhere in the world with rampant vote-rigging, violence, theft of ballot boxes and intimidation.
The legitimacy of the country now stands on the three towers of polling stations.
On the eve of the vote, a bomb exploded in the Office of the independent National Electoral Commission in Abuja, in central Nigeria, officials said.
A government official, who was not authorized to speak on the record, told CNN that eight people died in the attack.
Shuaib said that more than seven people were seriously injured.
"We condemn this cowardly and despicable, action which seems designed to instill fear in the Nigerians and paralyze their aspirations for a peaceful and credible election," the President of the electoral commission, Attahiru Jega, said in a statement. "Continue our deep sympathy to the families of all these young Nigerians who lost their lives or were injured."
Human Rights Watch estimates that at least 85 people have been killed in political violence so far.
As the country's most populous of Africa and its largest oil producer, Nigeria is important. Yet, despite its huge oil wealth, 80% of the population lives on less than $ 2 a day, according to the United Nations.
"Make no mistake: the test of honour is inevitably collective for all Nigerians,"the independent National Electoral Commission, said in a recent statement. "It is our national honour in the game and our relevance in the Affairs of the modern world, renamed. ?
Separately Friday, one man was killed and another seriously injured in an explosion in the city of Kaduna North, state news reported.
Police rushed to the scene and found not unexploded dynamite, according to the Commissioner of Police John Haruna Kaduna State, voice of Nigeria reported. They found more dynamite in a house belonging to he injured man, said the point of sale.
没有评论:
发表评论