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A short video clip suggesting that some Muslims are stopping Christians from registering for the permanent voter card (PVC) in Abuja has been making the rounds on social media.
In the footage circulated mostly on WhatsApp on Thursday, a female voice in the background alleged that the exercise was going on smoothly at a registration centre in Lugbe area of the federal capital territory (FCT) until a bearded man dressed in kaftan, alongside his cohorts, arrived at the venue.
According to the voice, the bearded man was on the telephone, telling someone to show up at the venue and disrupt the exercise.
“We have been registering and having a peaceful registration since morning until these Muslims came in, they called that ‘Arne’, meaning Christians, are here gathering and doing PVC they should come and disrupt it,” the woman said.
The alleger said the man wanted to disrupt the gathering because he knew they were for Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour Party.
“So, as you can see them, we have to quickly leave so that they do not endanger our lives. See them, the one with the moustache and the rest of them. They are making calls to cause a crisis here in Lugbe federal housing and the people are upset.” she added.
“But for our safety, we had to leave. So they don’t want Peter Obi. They know that everybody is out for Peter Obi. They want to disrupt it and stop everything.”
The female voice in the video did not state where the incident happened in Lugbe. However, TheCable traced the video frames to L.E.A Primary School, FHA Lugbe, Abuja.
TheCable visited the venue on Thursday and met a gathering of people who intended to register for their PVC.
A young man at the venue, who identified himself as Bisi, told TheCable that the video was made on Wednesday.
He said the bearded man was only asking people in the queue to be orderly.
He said the man in question was telling them to allow pregnant women and old people to be attended to first before others.
Bisi, who referred to the man as ‘Alhaji’, said the man, while on the phone, was speaking to an official of the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) to send more officials to help with the registration.
“I was shocked when I got here this morning watching the video. See (referring to this reporter), there was nothing like that here yesterday. The Alhaji is influential in this FHA. I doubt if he know he’s trending already. He was only trying to tell us to be orderly and give room for the aged ones to get registered first,” Bisi told TheCable.
“When he was on the call, I was close to where he was standing, the man was not even a Hausa man. He asked one INEC boss to send more personnel and that the ones here are overwhelmed already.
“At a point, the INEC officials wanted to leave, Alhaji called their office again and the staff were asked to stay back. It was in everyone’s presence. Nothing is true about the video.
“As you can see us here now, we penned down our names yesterday, and we have been here since morning. This is past 1pm, the INEC officials are not here. If Alhaji was here, I am very sure he would have helped make calls again, but see everyone calling him bad names already in his presence.”
The FCT police command described the allegation that some Muslims were stopping Christians from registering for PVC in Lugbe as “erroneous information”.
Mahmood Yakubu, INEC chairman, also confirmed to TheCable that the event described in the video is not true.
Yakubu added that Muslims were not stopping Christians from participating in the registration exercise.
