Tension in Kaduna as soldiers stop voters from polling units

Tempers rose at Stadium Roundabout, Kaduna, on Saturday morning as soldiers prevented some voters from accessing their polling units.

The soldiers had stopped residents of the southern part of the Kaduna metropolis whose polling units are located in the various places at the city centre.

At their Roundabout road block, the soldiers stopped people from driving to the city centre, saying they had orders from above not to allow movement.

Displaying their PVCs, the voters  started chanting “Buhari must go” and insisted that nobody would stop them from accessing their polling units.

The soldiers also attempted to seize mobile phones from journalists who were taking pictures of the incident, but they stood their ground, insisting that they were performing their constitutional duties like soldiers as well.

The intervention of a senior army officer averted a major situation.

The officer ordered that all those with their PVCs should be allowed to pass.

Meanwhile, Nasir el-Rufai, the state governor, and Adeniyi Oyebade, a major general and commandant of the Nigerian Defence Academy (NDA), queued among hundreds of voters in their polling unit 024, Runka/Marnona opposite NDA, Anguwan Sarki, Kaduna North LGA.

El-Rufai was in the queue for hours as the card readers failed in his unit.