A policeman and three others were killed by unknown gunmen while a chieftain of the PDP, Mrs Emilia Nte, was kidnapped in Rivers State.
This is just as ballot box snatching, vote-buying characterised the exercise in some parts of the state.
The policeman was said to have tried to protect Mrs Nte, who is a former council chairperson, from being taken away when the gunmen shot him.
This, it was learnt, happened at about 6pm on Friday in Nyeada, Andoni Local Government Area of the state.
Emilia, according to a source from the area, was returning home when the gunmen attacked her vehicle and shot the policeman before whisking her away.
Though Mrs Nte was reportedly shot dead, the state Police Public Relations Officer, Nnamdi Omoni, dismissed the claim, saying that she was kidnapped and not killed.
“It was the policeman, who tried to engage the gunmen that was killed and not the woman. The woman in question was kidnapped by the gunmen,” Omoni stressed.
Also, at about 3am on Saturday, one Michael Abednego was killed in Akinima, Ahoada West LGA of the state by a security agent suspected to be a mobile policeman attached to an unidentified politician.
It was also gathered that a man and a woman leader of the All Progressives Congress lost their lives in another gun attack in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni LGA.
Although the state PPRO confirmed Abednego’s death in Ahoada West, he said the police had yet to get the full details of what happened.
He, however, promised to find out what happened in Ogba/Egbema/Ndoni, where two persons were reportedly killed.
In Abonnema community, suspected armed thugs reportedly snatched ballot boxes as voters exercised their rights on Saturday morning.
The incidents took place in Wards 5, 6, 7, 10, 11 and 12 according to findings by one of our correspondents. The situation sent panic across the coastal town.
Similarly, there were sporadic shootings in Ward 13, Unit 007, Mbodo, Ikwerre Local Government Area of the state.
Three gunmen on motorcycles attempted to snatch ballot boxes at the place but were repelled by heavily-armed policemen, who rushed to the scene after being alerted to the incident.
However, voting went on smoothly in Uzuoha community also under Ikwerre Local Government Area as people were seen exercising their rights under a peaceful atmosphere.
A former caretaker chairman of the local government, Nwoziri Best, who spoke to one of our correspondents, said that the area was peaceful because they did not want elections to divide their community.
Most parts of Port Harcourt witnessed a downpour on Saturday afternoon, bringing voting in most units to an abrupt end.
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