2015 Guber polls: Politician threatens journalist for taking pictures of underage voters in Ebonyi

The 2015 governorship election in Ebonyi State was riddled with several illegalities. These ranged from killing of political players and innocent citizens, physical assault, defamation of character, kidnap and even broad daylight shootings. Indeed, in the past three weeks I have been here, it has been a kill-or-be-killed affair in the race.
There were allegations and counter allegations of intents to rig the polls by the different political parties, especially in Ikwo, Ezza North, Eza South, Ohaukwu and Ishielu local government areas. The general ‘win or die’ attitude of the candidates and the tactics they employed to win the seat at all cost put the entire state in panic because when several bulls fight, the ants get crushed in the process.
Talking about tactics employed to beat the process in the past, there were reports of missing or stolen ballot boxes, manipulated result sheets and the use of even kernel shells to ‘thumbprint’ ballot papers in favour of a political party.
However, for Saturday’s election, new tactics were employed, which can be attributed largely to innovations by the Independent Electoral Commission, as symbolised by the use of the card reader and permanent voter cards. The urge to beat the devices made many Ebonyi politicians resort to the use of underage voters, whether directly or indirectly to beat the system.
At a polling booth in Ezza South council, over 200 underage children were seen casting votes for a particular political party. When this correspondent took the shots of the children voting, a member of the House of Representatives walked up to him and said, “Ozioma, kindly delete those pictures now, or I will ask my boys to seize your phones and other devices.”
Even after I had deleted the pictures from my BlackBerry Q10 phone, the lawmaker wasn’t done. He rather added, “I am only being lenient with you because we respect you. But make sure we don’t see those pictures on any newspaper, magazine or social media platform. If it appears, then you never can tell what will happen to you.”
As stipulated by the Nigerian Constitution, a person is eligible to vote only if he is 18 years of age and above. But a visit to some other polling units outside the Ezza South LGA revealed that some underage voters, fully armed with their PVCs, were allowed to vote. What was more alarming was that a lot of them were fully kitted and ready for war, with their ‘birth certificates, backed by affidavits obtained from various courts in the state. So even when your eyes tell you the contrary and your heart agrees with your eyes, who can challenge a duly certified court affidavit?
It left questions upon questions on my mind. Why would a child queue under the scorching sun to cast a vote he is not yet ripe for, instead of sitting back at home watching Ben10 over a cup of ice cream? Could it be because even though his embryonic mind cannot fully understand the concepts of government and constitution, it understands fully that he should not have to share one miserly meal per day with his many other malnourished siblings?
Could the reason be that he has not been to school in months because his parents are unable to afford tuition for even the local government school he attends? Could it be because the road that leads to the infertile little farm they own, on several occasions, nearly killed he and his family as a result of the many potholes?
Does he too desire a better life than he enjoys at present – so that when he heard people chant ‘Change’, he too followed innocently to see if a little thumbprint could bring the desired change and a better life?
Is he trying to make a statement or has he been instructed by his parents, who have collected a quarter bag of rice and a litre of oil from the various political parties and must now deliver on their promise to bring a certain ‘quota’ to the polling booths?
Whatever the reasons are, one can only hope that everything relating to the election ends without further blood wash on the streets of Ebonyi, and in the nearest future, political parties, aspirants and the electorate would have higher regard for the Constitution, legalities and the entire electoral process.
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