On Saturday, voters in Osogbo, Osun State, were left stranded as armed soldiers enforced a restriction order preventing them from moving to their polling units. The affected electorate, mainly those living around Owode, Ede, were held up in front of the Osun State House of Assembly for flouting the restriction order. The soldiers refused all entreaties by the voters, who displayed their permanent voters’ cards. The lawmaker representing Osogbo State Constituency, Taofeek Badmus, who is seeking reelection, was observed pleading with the soldiers to allow the people to move but refused to speak with reporters when approached for comment.
One of the voters, Mr Tajudeen Olajide, while speaking with reporters, said he was living in Ede and wanted to move to Osogbo to vote when the soldiers stopped his vehicle. He said the soldiers gave him the option of moving without his vehicle but his polling unit was not nearby and he could not trek down.
Top security personnel, who were also on election duty in the state, said the soldiers had been properly briefed about their duty, adding that the restriction of movement was in order to prevent hoodlums from disrupting the poll.