Attacks on INEC offices in Imo may be political, says ex-DSS director

Mike Ejiofor, a former director of the Department of State Services (DSS), says the recent attacks on the offices of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) in Imo state may be political.

On Monday, gunmen launched an attack on the INEC headquarters in the state with locally-made explosives and razed some sections of the office.

Over the past few days, INEC offices in Imo and other parts of the south-east have come under attack, leading to the destruction of the commission’s properties.

On December 1, the INEC office in Orlu LGA of the state was razed by gunmen, while another office in Oru west LGA was attacked by gunmen on December 4.

Reacting to the development on Sunrise Daily, a Channels Television programme, on Tuesday, Ejiofor said the attacks are carried out by “criminal elements” and not by members of the proscribed Indigenous People of Biafra (IPOB).

“I tend to agree with Gov [Hope] Uzodinma to some extent that the attack is political. Some of them operate under the name of IPOB. Recall that IPOB had earlier denied any connection with such attacks and even the sit-at-home. These are just criminal elements serving some political motives,” he said.

“I commend the police for not just killing but making two arrests, these two arrests, I pray the police handle them well in conjunction with other security agencies to at least debrief them. Let’s know what their intentions are. Who are their sponsors? These are very critical questions that must be answered.

“Where I am worried actually is that these attacks are going to persist. From our own analysis and trend analysis, it is going to intensify between now and January.

“As campaigns heat up, we are going to expect more (attacks), but hope is not lost. I believe that the security agencies and intelligence agencies like the DSS at this point must intensify efforts. We should not leave these things to the security agencies alone. We need to get the people involved. 

“The motive is to truncate this [electoral] process.”