Nigeria's army has handed over dozens of suspects to police, after they were arrested on suspicion of electoral offences at the polls last weekend, a spokesman said on Tuesday.

Colonel Aminu Iliyasu said the suspects "include an army major and four policemen, a serving commissioner and a local lawmaker in the state".

All were arrested in the southern state of Rivers on Saturday during the presidential and parliamentary elections, he told reporters in the state capital, Port Harcourt.

Other suspects were "thugs recruited by politicians to cause disturbances during the polls", he added.

Iliyasu accused the Rivers state governor Nyesom Wike of attempting to bribe the army to compromise the polls in favour of his Peoples Democratic Party (PDP).

Iliyasu said that "500,000 naira ($1,500, 1,200 euros) was found on the major while 2.5 million naira was found with the policemen, believed to have been given to them by agents of the governor," he said.

Saturday's elections, which had been postponed for one week because of logistical problems, saw widespread delays at polling stations, as well as intimidation and violence.

One election volunteer was killed by a stray bullet in the Rivers state, where some staff of the Independent National Electoral Commission and even police were held hostage before being released unharmed.

Iliyasu said some of those arrested were found in a state government vehicle on Saturday with bundles of ballot papers meant for the vote.

He said Wike had launched a "campaign of calumny against the army" and accused them of bias and partisanship.

The suspects were being handed over to the police while the arrested army major would be disciplined internally, he added.

Rivers is the heart of Nigeria's oil and gas industry and has a long history of election-related violence.

Sixteen of the 53 people killed in violence linked to the vote last weekend were in Rivers, according to civil society monitors.

Related Links
Africa News - Resources, Health, Food

Tweet

Thanks for being here; We need your help. The Space Media Network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain. With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords. Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year. If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceMediaNetwork Contributor $5 Billed Once credit card or paypal		SpaceMediaNetwork Monthly Supporter $5 Billed Monthly paypal only

$400 billion climate investment plan for Sahel region
Niamey (AFP) Feb 20, 2019
Heads of state of 17 countries in the Sahel region of Africa will hold a summit on Monday in Niamey to approve a climate investment plan worth $400 billion over 12 years, the Niger government said Wednesday. The "ambitious" plan for the period 2018-30 will involve "17 nations from the Atlantic Ocean to the Horn of Africa" and will represent the "translation (into actions) of our nations' commitments through the Paris agreement on climate change", Environment Minister Almoustapha Garba told reporters ... read more