Osun Election: Kukah Centre Identified Osogbo, Irewole, 13 Other LGAs As Violence Risk Zones

Fifteen local government areas in Osun State have been identified as critical, high or moderate violence-risk zones ahead of the August 15 governorship election.

The National Peace Committee, through its secretariat, The Kukah Centre, which identified the areas, warned of potential flashpoints that could threaten a peaceful poll.

The findings were contained in the Political and Security Context Analysis presented during a bilateral stakeholders’ engagement in Osogbo on Friday.

The meeting, supported by the European Union under the EU Support to Democratic Governance in Nigeria programme, was attended by representatives of the Independent National Electoral Commission, the Independent Corrupt Practices and Other Related Offences Commission, security agencies and other stakeholders.

According to the report, organised political violence, institutional tensions, electoral offences and information disorder remain critical risks requiring sustained collaboration among stakeholders and proactive conflict prevention.

Speaking after presenting the report, the Project Manager of The Kukah Centre, Asabe Ndahi, identified Osogbo and Irewole as the two local government areas in the critical risk category.

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She also listed Iwo, Boripe, Ife Central and Ife East among the high-risk local government areas.

Ndahi said the report was presented to security agencies and other stakeholders to enable them develop strategies to reduce security threats and encourage voter participation on election day.

“We are here to present to them the report of findings from our Election Security Information Hub, which is domiciled at The Kukah Centre, Abuja, and get feedback from them on what they will be doing as we progress into the election.

“I give you an example, based on data we have, we have about 15 local governments that are between critical, high and moderate risk. Particularly, Osogbo and Irewole local government areas fall within the critical risk index.

“In the last six weeks, we have deployed field observers who are gathering data for us on security incidents in Osun State, so the risk index for Osogbo and Irewole is high.

“We have the other high-risk local governments like Iwo, Boripe, Ife Central and Ife East. In all of these places, we have been able to track and see that we have critical flashpoints ahead of the election.

“So we are discussing with the security agencies to see how to curtail or reduce the incidents as we progress into the election to make sure that election day is safe for the people to come out and vote,” she said.