On his way home from a campaign rally in southeast Enugu State on Wednesday, a senatorial candidate for Nigeria’s opposition Labour Party was shot dead and his body set afire.
Three days prior to Saturday’s general elections, which are being hailed as the most competitive in 24 years, Oyibo Chukwu was assassinated.
When the car he was riding in was attacked by assailants, he was shot and killed. According to police, he was accompanied by five additional party members on Thursday.
Along with him, his assistants were shot dead, and their car containing the bodies was then set on fire.
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“Our party members are being targeted for assassination by political parties that felt threatened by the rise of the Labour Party in the state and are afraid they may lose Saturday’s election,” said Chijioke Edeoga, a candidate for the governor’s seat in the state.
Despite Peter Obi, the presidential candidate of the Labour party, urging supporters to vote “correctly, peacefully, and hopefully,” the Labour party has not responded to the attack.
There have been numerous armed conflicts in the northeast, high crime rates, and shortages of money, fuel, and electricity in the days leading up to the elections on Saturday.
