47 arrested with guns during Bauchi bye-election – Police - Punch Newspapers

No fewer than 47 suspects were arrested on Saturday during the bye-election in Disina State Constituency, Shira Local Government Area of Bauchi State. The suspects, who were allegedly armed with guns, cutlasses, and sticks, were reportedly posing as operatives of a state-owned security outfit. According to the Bauchi State Police Command, the suspects were arrested across various polling units. The Police Public Relations Officer of the command, Nafiu Habib, said in a statement on Saturday, “Following our deployment for election duty in Disina State Constituency, Shira LGA, 47 operatives claiming to be members of a state-owned security outfit were arrested within polling units. “They were found in possession of guns, cutlasses, and sticks, in contravention of the Electoral Act and the security directives earlier issued.” The PPRO added that the suspects were immediately taken into custody, while firearms and other dangerous weapons were recovered from them. Habib noted that the Commissioner of Police, Sani-Omolori Aliyu, condemned the development and directed that the suspects be transferred to the State Criminal Investigation Department for further investigation. He quoted the CP as describing the incident as a “blatant disregard for lawful directives and an attempt to undermine the electoral process.” The command reiterated its commitment to ensuring a peaceful, credible, and hitch-free bye-election.See more Punch stories on Google.Add Punch on Google It warned that “any person or group, regardless of status, who attempts to disrupt the electoral process or cause a breach of peace will be decisively dealt with.” The police also called on members of the public to remain law-abiding and report suspicious activities to the authorities. The Bauchi State Police Command had, in a statement issued on Friday, outlined security arrangements for the bye-elections in Disina State Constituency, Shira Local Government Area, and Sakwa State Constituency, Zaki Local Government Area. In the statement, the command unequivocally declared that “state-owned security outfits, quasi-security agencies, private security guards, and vigilante groups are not allowed to participate in election security coverage.” The command stated that only “statutorily recognised security agencies under the Inter-Agency Consultative Committee on Election Security are mandated to provide security for the elections.” Meanwhile, in Gombe State, the National Commissioner of the Independent National Electoral Commission in charge of the North-East, Rear Admiral Jamila Abubakar-Sadiq (retd.), described the Gombe/Kwami/Funakaye Federal Constituency bye-election as peaceful. She, however, expressed concern over what she described as a low turnout of voters in some polling units. Yilwatda hails candidates as APC wins four of five by-elections APC candidate wins reps by-election in Gombe APC wins Kano Assembly seat in by-election Abubakar-Sadiq, who observed the election, said the electoral process commenced smoothly, with the Bimodal Voter Accreditation System machines and other equipment functioning as expected in the polling units visited. The INEC official, whose area of responsibility covers Bauchi and Gombe states, spoke while monitoring the exercise across some polling units in the constituency on Saturday. She said, “The environment is peaceful. People are out in some places, but I can tell you what I observe is a low turnout of voters.” According to her, voting commenced at 8:30am, but only a few voters had arrived at most of the polling units visited by the monitoring team at the early stage of the exercise. Asked whether transportation, distance to polling units, or lack of awareness could be responsible for the low turnout, Abubakar-Sadiq ruled out those possibilities based on her observations. “Well, I don’t think so. None of the above. I think they are just probably taking their time to come out. All the challenges that you’ve listed, it’s not a challenge to them. They are just taking their time. You can see they are just coming out now,” she said. The Gombe/Kwami/Funakaye Federal Constituency bye-election was conducted to fill the vacant seat previously occupied by a former lawmaker, Yaya Tongo, who died on June 12, 2026. The constituency has 495,851 registered voters across Gombe, Kwami, and Funakaye Local Government Areas. Five political parties participated in the election, according to the final list released by INEC. The parties included the New Nigeria Peoples Party, Allied Peoples Movement, All Progressives Congress, Action Peoples Party, and Labour Party. The election was conducted across 903 polling units in the three local government areas. Gombe State Governor, Muhammadu Yahaya, expressed satisfaction with the conduct of the bye-election, describing the exercise as peaceful and well-organised. Yahaya, who spoke after casting his vote at Yahaya Umaru 010 polling unit, said the turnout was encouraging despite the election being a bye-election. The governor said reports from the three local government areas making up the federal constituency indicated that the election was progressing smoothly. He added, “It’s about the same report everywhere, people are happy. It’s only three local governments—Gombe, Kwami, Funakaye—and I have gotten reports that the election was going on well and it will end well.” Kindly share this story:

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