Pre-Election Violent Deaths: Our Fears for 2011 Elections - Intersociety

Elombah.com

28 March 2011

Pre-Election Violent Deaths: Our Fears for 2011 Elections - Intersociety        

Public Statement By International Society For Civil Liberties And The Rule Of

Law (Nigeria), Emeka Umeagbalasi, Chairman, Board of Trustees

As Pre-Election Violent Deaths & Property Destruction Rise To Over 130 & N2.3Billion (USD 15M) - Pre-Election Violence & Property Destruction:

Less than 120 hours or five days to the first leg (NASS poll) of the all-important April general elections in Nigeria, it may be correct to say that over 130 Nigerian citizens had been killed outside the law and over 400 injured in pre-election related violence since July 2010. Again, July 2010 was the peak of the pre-election activities in Nigeria as a result of the INEC’s earlier schedule to hold elections in December 2010 and January 2011 respectively. And these deaths did not include deaths arising from sectarian and other allied killings that rocked different parts of Nigeria in recent times. An internationally respected human rights watchdog, the Amnesty International believes that between July 2010 and middle of March 2011, “at least, 50 people have been killed in election-related violence in Nigeria.” But further findings by our leadership have shown steady increase in the number of deaths and property destruction since the Amnesty International’ s respected statement was made public in the middle of March 2011 .  In the locally and internationally disputed 2007 general elections, “at least, 300 people were killed” (Human Rights Watch).