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2023 Election: It’s Criminal To Use Phones At Polling Units – INEC

Published

3 years ago

February 22, 2023

Editor

The Independent National Electoral Commission, INEC, on Wednesday cautioned voters against the use of mobile phones at the polling units during Saturday’s election, declaring that it is a criminal offence.

The Resident Electoral Commissioner (REC) in Ogun State, Niyi Ijalaye, gave the warning in Abeokuta while addressing journalists shortly after a meeting with heads of security agencies in the state.

According to him, voters would not be allowed to make calls or take photographs with their mobile phones while casting their votes.

Ijalaye further expressed the preparedness of the electoral body to conduct a free, fair and credible election with the support of the various security agencies and other stakeholders.

According to him: “We have been strategising and strategising on the way forward to ensure that elections in Ogun State will be devoid of rancour or violence of any sort whatsoever. We want to appeal to the good people of the Gateway State to endeavour to just come out peacefully on Saturday to exercise their franchise and vote for candidates and parties of their choice.”

Speaking further, he said: “On no account will violence of any sort be tolerated in this state. Maybe I need to emphasise this also that on voting day when people come to the polling booths with their phones when they approach the polling officer and they want to go in with their phones, they will not be allowed to use their phones to discuss with people or take pictures at that polling point where they will be voting. It is an offence, it is a crime and it will not be allowed.”

He added: “We appeal to those people who wish to come there with their phones to, maybe switch it off for that one or two minutes, so that everybody would be seen to be acting within the law.”

On his part, Ogun State Commissioner of Police Frank Mba called on security agents deployed for the election to maintain political neutrality and provide a level playing field for all the political parties.

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Welcome Home, Israel Confirms Return Of 20 Hostages From Gaza

Published

14 hours ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

Israel said that the last 20 living hostages released by Hamas on Monday had arrived in the country.

“Welcome home,” the foreign ministry wrote in a series of posts on X, hailing the return of Matan Angrest, Gali Berman, Ziv Berman, Elkana Bohbot, Rom Braslavski, Nimrod Cohen, David Cunio, Ariel Cunio, Evyatar David, Guy Gilboa Dalal, Maxim Herkin, Eitan Horn, Segev Kalfon, Bar Kuperstein, Omri Miran, Eitan Mor, Yosef Haim Ohana, Alon Ohel, Avinatan Or and Matan Zangauker.

AFP

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20 Members Of Gang Blacklisted By US Escape Guatemala Prison

Published

16 hours ago

October 13, 2025

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Twenty members of a gang designated a “foreign terrorist organisation” by the United States have escaped from detention in Guatemala, a prison chief said Sunday.

The members of the Barrio 18 gang “evaded security controls” at the Fraijanes II facility, prison director Ludin Godinez said at a news conference.

He received “an intelligence report” on Friday warning about the “possible escape” from the prison, which is southeast of the capital, Guatemala City.

Godinez said they were investigating possible acts of corruption.

Washington last month blacklisted Barrio 18, an El Salvador-based gang which has a reputation for violence and extortion, as part of its crackdown on drug trafficking.

The US embassy in Guatemala condemned the prison escape as “utterly unacceptable.”

“The United States designated members of this heinous group as the terrorists they are and will hold accountable anyone who has provided, provides, or decides to provide material support to these fugitives or other gang members,” the embassy said on X.

It called on the Guatemalan government to “act immediately and vigorously to recapture these terrorists.”

According to Interior Minister Francisco Jimenez, there are about 12,000 gang members and collaborators in Guatemala, while another 3,000 are in prison.

The country’s homicide rate has increased from 16.1 per 100,000 inhabitants in 2024 to 17.65 this year, more than double the world average, according to the Centre for National Economic Research.

According to the Salvadoran government, the gangs Barrio 18 and Mara Salvatrucha, better known as MS-13, are responsible for the deaths of about 200,000 people over three decades.

The two gangs once controlled an estimated 80 percent of El Salvador, which had one of the highest homicide rates in the world.

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South Africa Bus Crash Kills 40 Including Malawi, Zimbabwe Nationals

Published

16 hours ago

October 13, 2025

Editor

At least 40 people, including nationals of Malawi and Zimbabwe, were killed when a passenger bus rolled down an embankment in South Africa, a provincial transport minister said Monday.

The bus travelling to Zimbabwe crashed around 90 kilometres (55 miles) from the border on Sunday after the driver apparently lost control, Limpopo province transport minister Violet Mathye said.

“They are still working on the scene, but 40 bodies have already been confirmed to date,” Mathye told the Newzroom Afrika channel. The dead included a 10-month-old girl, she said.

Thirty-eight people were in hospital and rescuers were searching for other victims, she told eNCA media.

The bus was travelling from the southern city of Gqeberha, around 1,500 kilometres away, and its passengers included Malawians and Zimbabweans who were working in South Africa. The crash may have been caused by driver fatigue or a mechanical fault, the minister said.

South Africa has a sophisticated and busy road network with a high rate of road deaths, blamed mostly on speeding, reckless driving and unroadworthy vehicles.

AFP