Election: Soldiers kill ballot box snatcher in Lagos

A ballot box snatcher has reportedly met his waterloo at Olodi- Apapa, Ajeromi- Ifelodun Local Government Area of Lagos State when a soldier shot him dead during the presidential and National Assembly election.
The unidentified ballot box snatcher was said to have breezed into a polling station at Oyebo Street, Olodi-Apapa with his gang and snatched a ballot box.
One of the soldiers that were said to be close to the polling station allegedly gunned down the hoodlum while trying to escape with the stolen ballot box.
The voters were said to have scampered to safety as the ballot box snatcher fell on his face and died.
An eyewitness, Suleman Iludun, said, “People were voting at Oyebo Street, Olodi- Apapa when some men came and brought out cutlasses which they hid in their trousers and threatened to kill anybody who came near them. They took away the ballot box and were running away with it when people began to scream saying they had stolen the ballot box.
“Unfortunately for them, some soldiers coming from the other end were attracted to the scene by shouts and one of them gunned the ballot box snatcher down. Police later came and took away the corpse. Many people, out of fear, returned to their residences for fear of another attack. If not for the soldiers, they would have succeeded in carting away the ballot box.”
Another eyewitness, Ibrahim Ogunsanya, said he had escaped from the scene with his wife when they heard the gunshot.
He said, “I was at the polling station with my wife, Fatima, when the hoodlums came and snatched the ballot box away. There was the possibility that policemen could come back to arrest innocent people, so I had to leave the scene with my wife. We were worried that the party to which the ballot box snatchers belong could come to take revenge on innocent people.
“Many of us ended up not voting but left for our houses. Some people still came back to vote. After the soldier shot the man dead and other members of his gang had escaped, the ballot box was returned and voting continued.”
In a related development, some political thugs also reportedly snatched a ballot box at Opaleye Street, Ajegunle. The hoodlums were said to have come from Amukoko area of Lagos.
An eyewitness, Chukwudi Chinenye, said, “The ballot box snatchers came all the way from Amukoko. They crossed Opaleye – Amukoko Bridge and snatched the ballot box. Angry mob sets the wooden bridge ablaze in the process. The hoodlums were so many that the only security operative that was at the place could not stop them. They carted away the ballot box.”