#AnambraDecides2025: Police Fire Teargas In INEC Secretariat, Injure Corps Member, Election Observer

By Bunady On Nov 8, 2025

Eyewitnesses said that the officers, who were suspected to be under the influence of alcohol, began shooting teargas indiscriminately around the INEC office, forcing ad-hoc staff, observers, and electoral officials to scamper for safety ahead of the commencement of the #AnambraDecides2025 governorship election.

Tension erupted early Saturday morning in Ihiala Local Government Area of Anambra State after policemen deployed to the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) secretariat allegedly fired teargas canisters, leaving a National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) member and an election observer from Yiaga Africa injured.

“The policemen started shooting teargas canisters this early morning, disturbing INEC officials, corps members, and observers preparing for the election,” one witness said.

According to another eyewitness, trouble started when a corps member approached the policemen to ask why they were firing teargas without provocation. The officers allegedly turned violent, attacking him and others with stones and chairs.

“When the corps member asked why they were shooting teargas this early morning creating undue tension, they pounced on him, throwing stones and chairs. One of the stones hit a window glass, injuring an election observer from Yiaga Africa,” the source said.

The incident reportedly caused chaos within the INEC premises, disrupting the final stages of election preparation and sending several officials fleeing for safety.

Reacting to the incident, the State Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), SP Tochukwu Ikenga, told PUNCH that the situation occurred but claimed it had been “resolved.”

“I just spoke with the election CP in Ihiala, he said that the matter has been resolved. It is a kind of rift between persons in that place — I think it is the election observers and some of the INEC ad-hoc staff. You know some of the ad-hoc staff sometimes are overzealous. So they were trying to tell people to go back and policemen were trying to manage the whole thing,” Ikenga said.

At Polling Unit 001, Fegge Ward 5, St. John Primary School, INEC officials and ad-hoc staff said they arrived early and completed setup around 8:00 a.m., but were unable to begin accreditation and voting due to persistent BVAS malfunction.

“We got here around 8 a.m. and set up, but we have been unable to do anything for almost two hours,” said Samuel Obiora, the Presiding Officer, while speaking to TheCable.

“The RAC tech has been here to check the BVAS, and he promised to bring another BVAS.”

As of 10:01am, the voting process had still not commenced at the unit, with residents expressing anger and disappointment over what they described as poor preparation by INEC despite repeated assurances of technical readiness.