Following the ugly in­cidents in some of the offices of the Indepen­dent National Elec­toral Commission (INEC) in Abia State in the past weeks, security operatives have in­creased surveillance around the offices of the electoral umpire across the state.

About two weeks ago, INEC office at Omoba in Isiala Ngwa South Local Government Area of the state was attacked and al­legedly set on fire by unidenti­fied hoodlums.

Just last week, some staff members of INEC were ar­rested by security men on duty at the state headquarters of the commission while moving out with some card readers and other sensitive materials to an unknown destination.

Checks by Daily Sun re­vealed that increased security around the offices was aimed at forestalling a re-occurrence of the events of the past weeks.

A security source said the action was also aimed at pro­viding security for the staff of the electoral body that had expressed concern over their safety after the Isiala Ngwa South incident.

Other sources said the pres­ence of the security agents may not be unconnected with the recent attempt by some INEC staff to take away some card readers and other sensi­tive materials used for the 2015 elections in the state.

Speaking on the develop­ment, INEC Public Relations Officer for the state, Mr. Ed­win Enabor, said he was not aware about the security beef up around the offices.

“I am not aware of the beef­ing up of security around our offices, but if there was any­thing like that, it may not be unconnected with the attack in our office at Isiala Ngwa,” he said.

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