Ballots. Bullets. Blood.

Voting in the Presidential and National Assembly elections might have come and gone, but the pockets of violence that ensued in different places nationwide says a lot about the exercise. This will to an extent determine the nature of the upcoming Governorship and House of Assembly elections.

Prior to the Saturday polls, a lot of Nigerian nursed the fear of electoral violence, these fears became a reality after violence were reported in some locations across the nation

In Lagos state, violence marred the elections as thugs disrupted the polls in Okota, burning ballot papers in the process. There was reported cases of violence in Rivers state leading to the killing of an ad-hoc staff by a stray bullet. In a similar report, the Nigerian Army said its troops killed six political thugs during the Saturday polls in Rivers state.

Electoral materials were destroyed in Oriade Local Government Government Area of Osun state during an attack at INEC office by hoodlums. In some parts of Zamfara state elections were rescheduled and polling units relocated due to security threats by armed bandits. In Bayelsa state the Nigerian Army arrested 15 suspected political thugs and recovered various types of arms and ammunition.

Over the years, elections in Nigeria have been marked by violence that have resulted to loss of lives, destruction of properties and sown the seed of political apathy in the consciousness of Nigerians. However, in retrospect 2019 elections so far have recorded a minimal scale of violence as compared to the 2011 and 2015 general elections. At any rate, tendencies of post-election violence cannot be ruled out since the results are still being collated.

During the build-up of the polls, the Nigerian security operatives continuously reiterated assurances of peaceful polls during the exercise. However, some voters in Rivers, Lagos and other areas still witnessed varying scales of violence. What is the readiness of the Nigerian security operatives in combating post-election violence as the results are being collated? What security lessons have been learnt from Saturday polls to make adjustments for the upcoming governorship and house of assembly elections?