Police arrest Ado Doguwa, smash BVAS hacking syndicate

Secondary reports floating at the close of yesterday have it that a syndicate of hackers suspected to be behind hitches in the electronic transmission of results directly from polling units in Saturday’s election has been smashed by the Nigerian Police.

According to reports which were linked to Arise TV broadcast seen by The Oracle Today on Facebook, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) command of the police arrested a number of the suspects  during a sting operation on Ghandji street in the Maitama area of the FCT.

The news also coincided with reported arrest of House of Representatives Minority leader, Alhassan Ado Doguwa, over alleged electoral violence.

The actions of the police came after former President Olusegun Obasanjo had called on incumbent President Muhammadu Buhari to save Nigeria the looming danger which brazen manipulation of the 2023 presidential election portends.

Also, the African Union, ECOWAS and the European Union had separately condemned electoral violence, intimidation, abuse of incumbency and manipulation of the electoral process and called on the government to deploy the law in bringing perpetrators to account.

The Labour Party (LP) and the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) had staged a walk out from the national election results collation center in Abuja after expre4ssing loss of confidence in the process and called on the Chairman of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC), Prof Mahmood Yakubu, to resign.

Delegates and representatives of the two parties had refused to sign the final results of the election process, pointing at the low credibility of the process after the BVAS platform was abandoned by INEC for manual transmission of results.

Thousands of photographs and videos recording of electoral violence including ballot snatching, voter intimidation and attacks, destruction of polling materials, relocation of polling units to private residences and result doctoring have filled the air with social anger as protests brew.

The EU observer mission blamed the electoral mess on INEC’s poor management of the technology platforms on which government had heavily invested to guarantee credible election.

Chief Obasanjo had called for all elections that were manually processes be cancelled and re-conducted within next seven days.

As the INEC contends with observations and rebuffs criticisms, Arise News reported arrest of technology syndicate suspected to be involved in disabling the BVAS platform, and Daily Trust reported the arrest of Ado Doguwa on suspicions of electoral violence.

According to Arise TV, the police took the suspects into custody and are investigating the alleged illegal possession and suspected manipulation of the BVAS.

It was also reported that one of the suspects arrested is said to be the Vice President of a company known as Emperor Technology. The report said the suspects are helping the police with their investigation.

Meanwhile, Daily Trust reported that the House of Representatives Minority leader, Alhassan Ado Doguwa, was arrested barely two months after he threatened to deal with those who refused to vote for the All Progressives Congress (APC).

According to the paper, the Police arrested him Ado Doguwa over alleged involvement in the killing of several persons and burning of the Secretariat of New Nigeria People’s Party (NNPP)  in the just concluded general election.

Doguwa who was arrested at the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport while boarding a flight to Abuja had in December last year told a crowd of his supporters that anyone who fails to vote for the APC would be dealt with, the paper reported.

“He also used the pistol of his orderly and fired at several persons. So we have arrested him in connection to murder and arson.

“He is currently cooling off in the state Criminal Investigation Department,” a source disclosed.

The police affirmed no fewer than three persons were killed when the campaign secretariat of the party located in the Tudun Wada area of the state was set on fire.

Two persons were also burnt to death during the crisis that broke out during the collation of the results of Doguwa/Tudun Wada House of Representatives election, which was announced to have been won by Dogunwa.

Earlier, while briefing journalists, Doguwa denied his involvement and disclosed he was yet to receive any formal invitation from the police.

Doguwa said: “I never held a gun! I don’t even know how to hold a gun. I also never held any weapon throughout the election.”