Hoodlums armed with guns and machetes on Sunday morning attacked the Ogoja Local Government INEC collation centre in Cross River.

The hoodlums stormed the centre when the result of the House of Assembly election in the Ogoja constituency was being announced.

The spokesperson of the police command in Cross River, SP Irene Ugbo, who confirmed the incident, said the situation was quickly controlled.

Ms Ugbo said most of the hoodlums had been arrested and were being profiled to ascertain the level of their involvement in the attack.

The Local Government Collation Officer, Paul Bassey, who was injured during the attack and rushed to hospital, described the incident as “barbaric”.

Mr Bassey said his laptop and duplicate result sheets were destroyed during the attack.

“One of my colleagues is still being treated in the theatre and I pray he comes out alive as heavy stones and planks were used on him,” he said.

The Electoral Officer for Ogoja Local Government, Peter Kolo, said the hoodlums broke security barriers at the collation centre to destroy the election results.

“As I speak with you, we have recovered all the results from both the BVAS and uploaded results in the portal, and we will soon resume announcing the results from the three remaining wards,” Mr Kolo said.

The State Constituency Collation Officer, Timothy Ellah of the University of Calabar, said he was beaten by the thugs and sustained injury.

“We have, however, recovered all the results, and we are ready to resume announcing the results,” Mr Ellah said.

INEC had already announced the election results of seven out of the 10 wards for the Ogoja Assembly seat when the hoodlums attacked the collation centre.

(NAN)