UNKNOWN gunmen on Saturday struck at Agbamere, Ehalumona in Nsukka council area of Enugu state and kidnapped a female voter, Onyinye Ugwoke while she was waiting to exercise her civic right.

It was learnt that the incident which happened a few metres away from the primary school in the community where the victim was to cast her vote,  caused pandemonium as many of the electorate ran for safety.

This incident, coupled with the general low turnout of voters in parts of the state blurred the expected enthusiasm that would have greeted the presidential polls.

When Sunday Tribune visited the scene of the kidnap incident at about 1.30pm yesterday, a team of police officers from the Urban Police Station, Nsukka, who was already investigating the incident were busy conferring with a chieftain of the ruling Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) in the community, Broderick Ugwu, and other members of the community on how to secure the release of the victim.
Narrating the ugly incident, Ugwu told reporters that the gunmen fired into the air twice when members of the community who witnessed the kidnap drama barricaded the Ehalumona- Nsukka road to prevent the hoodlums from making away with their victim.
“Our people made efforts to stop them before they started shooting into the air but even at that, we pursued them up to Nru Junction before they finally escaped”, he said.
Further checks revealed that when the suspected kidnappers stormed the town, they had first visited Ogwashi polling station near the palace of the former deputy speaker of the defunct Eastern House of Assembly and traditional ruler of Ehalumona, Igwe Charles Abangwu, where they had met a police man on duty.
The source said, “They left after they asked the police man if Dumbri, the officer in charge of anti-robbery operations in the division, was around and he answered in the affirmative.”
According to the source when they left the first polling station they visited, they headed for the next polling booth where they kidnapped the girl by physically sweeping her off her feet and ferrying her into their Volvo car.
Ugwu also explained that they had beat all the barricades placed on their way quickly by some of the vigilante voters who watched the drama of kidnap happen very quickly.However, as the police team and the community leaders rose from a brief meeting they held on how to track down the hoodlums, there were assurances that clues already available would easily help in getting at the roots of the dastardly act.Meanwhile the Minister for Aviation Mrs. Fidelia Njeze has described the presidential election in Enugu State as peaceful, saying the leadership of Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) led by Professor Atahiru Jega has improved on its performance.
Also commending the INEC were the former Deputy Governor of Enugu State, Chief Okechukwu Itanyi and the immediate-past of National Chairman of Peoples Democratic Party (PDP), Dr Okwesilieze Nwodo.
The Igbo politicians who spoke at their wards shortly after casting their votes at Abor and Ukehe respectively, said contrary to the opinions of many people, there was no apathy of voters in the state, stressing that many people came out to exercise their civic rights.They commended the people of the state for turning out in large number to vote for a presidential candidate of their choice, adding that the on-going electoral process would produce a credible leader in the country.