Some hunters in Bayelsa State have handed over to the Independent National Electoral Commission, a total of 320 Permanent Voters Cards which they found in an uncompleted building in the state.
Members of the Nigerian Hunters Forest Security Service led by the state Commandant, Moses Okanu on Wednesday, brought the PVCs to the INEC office in Yenagoa and handed them over to the state Administrative Secretary of INEC, Okop Umobong.
Okanu disclosed that his men discovered the PVCs stashed in a bag in the building along the AIT-Elebele Road, while they were on routine patrol in the bushes from Azikoro village to the Elebele area.
He said some hoodlums, who were in the building, escaped through the windows upon sighting members of the security organisation.
Okanu, at the handing over the PVCs to INEC said, “We were able to penetrate the building and we saw the voters cards.
“Knowing fully well this is government property, and the only authority empowered or authorised by law to keep PVCs in their custody is INEC. So, we recovered it and decided to bring it to INEC,” he added.
The state INEC administrative secretary commended the security group for their vigilance and decision to return the 320 PVCs to the electoral umpire.
Umobong said that the cards would be subjected to scrutiny by the commission’s information and communication technology department to ascertain if they were cloned cards or they belonged to genuine voters on the INEC database.
“They (ICT department) will also determine whether the cards are discarded cards or from the process of printing; some cards can actually be faulty from printing.
“They will also investigate the circumstances that led to the cards being found in the place in which they were found,” the electoral officer stated.