By Matthew Don
No fewer than 150 persons were arrested and detained by the police in different parts of Lagos State in connection with one alleged infraction or the order during the council polls that took place on Saturday, July 22.
Police authorities are profiling the suspects to know their level of involvement in the alleged crime.
Fatai Owoseni who is the Commissioner of Police Lagos State however confirmed that 110 were arrested during the exercise in places like Oshodi, Mushin and Agege.
He said he personally monitored the election in those places and even assisted in moving the results to the LASIEC offices when it appeared some people wanted to snatch the results from officials.
The election was characterised by apathy, made worse by heavy downpour in parts of Lagos that made movement of electorate and State Independent Electoral Commission officials difficult.
Consequently, accreditation of voters and voting were affected while the general turnout was poor.
Members of the civil society, mainly those from the Transition Monitoring Group community decried that the electorate shunned the exercise.
He knocked LASIEC for poor preparation and predicted that huge litigation would follow the outcome.
Babalola maintained that many people were aggrieved over the election and concluded that what took place in Lagos State on Saturday was more or a protest than an election. He said TMG would rate LASIEC poorly.
Regardless, Governor Akinwunmi Ambode voted at his Epe Council during the poll like other government officials and members of the state legislature.
The All Progressive Congress leadership in the state and officials of LASIEC said the exercise was successful.
Following the restriction of movement many people coming into Lagos and existing the state were trapped as the police ensured movement was restricted between 7 am an 3 pm.
Operatives of the Rapid Response Squad of Lagos led by Assistant Commissioner of Police Tunji Disu were seen in virtually all parts of the state trying to ensure things went well.
Owoseni said what happened on Saturday was the result of lessons learnt from the past.
Some Lagosians decried the low turnout and insinuated that the outcome may not be a true reflection of the desire of residents. One resident in Mushin actually said what happened on Saturday was more of a coronation than election.
Some members of the other political parties said they were not surprised about what happened, alleging that preparations were made to hurt other parties anf favour APC which is the state’s ruling party.