Four delegates for the gubernatorial primaries of the People Democratic Party (PDP) from Mariga local government area of Niger state have been killed by bandits.
The chairman of the Electoral Committee and Deputy Governor of Bayelsa state, Lawrence Ewhrudjakpo, announced this at the state PDP secretariat, venue of the primaries in Minna on Thursday.
The delegates were said to have been killed on Wednesday while returning to Mariga after the party postponed the primaries due to a protest by some of the aspirants who expressed distrust with the delegates’ list.
The delegates were thereafter asked to bring their means of identification to authenticate their names.
Subsequently, those who lost their lives in the incident were substituted to complete the number of delegates from the local government.
One of the delegates, Shehu Haruna, said the incident happened between Mariga and Tegina and four people lost their lives.
He said, “We left Minna in the late hours when PDP postponed the Governorship Primaries to Thursday, and that we should go and bring our voters card or any means of identification. We were returning home to get our means of identification and on the road we ran into bandits who opened fire on our vehicle. Though we were able to escape since the driver was not hit, four people died instantly.”
He said the local government which shares borders with Birnin-Gwari in Kaduna has served as hot spot for bandits who terrorised regularly.
Haruna called for permanent security operatives in the area to safeguard travellers and communities in the area.
