The convener of Stop Violence Against Women in Politics, Justice Development and Peace Center (JDPC), on Thursday, disclosed that there is palpable fear among voters in Ondo State, following the violence experienced during the campaigns of political parties in the state.
This was disclosed yesterday in Akure, Ondo State capital, during a press conference by the organisation, expressing concerns over possible insecurity during the election.
Speaking, the legal officer of the JDPC, Mrs Oluwatoba Olaifa, said unless adequate security measures are put in place before the election, the process might affect the turn out of the election.
Olaifa described as a worrisome attack on some female party supporters and called for protection for women folk during the election.
She noted that most of the violence happened in densely populated areas while casualties recorded spread across men, women and youth.
According to her, “A vast number of registered women voters interviewed stated categorically that they may not participate in the electoral process due to the cases of violence either witnessed, heard, or viewed on the media.”
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JDPC, however, recommended that every citizen should be encouraged to come out and vote without fear of intimidation or harassment while voters are advised to report any cases of violence in their community.
The organisation said: “We want to encourage citizens of Ondo State to come out and vote without fear of intimidation and abuse of voters choice and to report cases of violence in the polling units.
They called on all “stakeholders, community leaders, government officials, political parties and law enforcement agencies to put efforts together to establish measures for the protection of voters and ensure that perpetrators of violence are apprehended and duly prosecuted in order to deter further occurrence.”
We call on INEC to be unbiased and conduct a free, fair and credible governorship election on October 10. The full participation of all registered voters including women and men will define a free and fair election in Ondo State.