Political Thugs Burn Ebonyi High Court, 24 hours After INEC Declared Election Results

Hoodlums suspected to be political thugs have set ablaze a High Court in Owutu-Edda, Afikpo South Local Government Area of Ebonyi State.

The development came barely 24 hours after the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) announced that results of the conclusion of the Governorship and House of Assembly elections in the state.

The Registrar of the Court, Mrs Oluchi Uduma in an interview with Punch, confirmed that the court was set ablaze in the early hours of Tuesday at 2am.

She noted that youths of the area made efforts to quench the fire and also attempted to apprehend the suspected arsonists but they fled.

Uduma also revealed that some hoodlums had on the 15th of this month attempted to set the court ablaze but failed.

The chairman, Afikpo South Local Government Area, Chima Ekumankama also confirmed the incident, adding that the matter has been reported to the police.

He said the local vigilante team deployed to the court was distracted by someone who called them to come to a nearby school, only for the court which they were guarding to be set ablaze.

Ekumankama noted that the matter was reported to the governor and the commissioner of police while efforts were made to arrest the perpetrators.

This comes a few hours after the INEC declared Francis Nwifuru of the All Progressives Congress (APC) as the winner of the Ebonyi governorship election.