| Submit your comments on this article |
| Africa Subsaharan |
| High turnout in N. Nigeria despite Boko Haram threats |
| 2015-03-29 |
| [AA.TR] Despite Boko Haram ... not to be confused with Procol Harum, Harum Scarum, possibly to be confused with Helter Skelter. The Nigerian version of al-Qaeda and the Taliban rolled together and flavored with a smigeon of distinctly Subsaharan ignorance and brutality... threats, millions of voters, including internally displaced persons, defied the scorching sun in Nigeria's restive north and walked long distances to vote in the general elections on Saturday. "I was accredited as soon as the process commenced at about 8:15am and went back home," Abubakar Saliu, a voter in Maiduguri, the quiet provincial capital of the Borno State, told The Anadolu Agency. "I came back four hours later not minding the hot sun to vote," he asserted. Saliu said he had walked from his residence after accreditation to return to an IDPs camp, some two kilometers away, where he cast his ballot. Voting went on smoothly with no incident of violence in Borno where Boko Haram had been carrying out attacks for nearly six years. Voting ended in several polling units at about 4pm local time while counting started immediately. Voting continues elsewhere in the state nonetheless. Nigerians are elected a new president and parliament. Voting is taking place at 119, 973 polling centers across the country and will end after the last accredited voter had cast his/her ballot. Nigeria has a total of 68,833,476 registered voters, down from 73.5 million four years ago. The reduction has been attributed to the recent elimination of double registration. |
| Posted by:Fred |