02/25/2019 Nigeria (International Christian Concern) – Despite the election results not having been announced, the Nigerian elections have already led to dozens of deaths. Violence between what seems to be the two main political parties, the All progressives Congress(APC) and the People Democratic Party(PDP), has led to a documented 40 deaths since the elections took place on Saturday. There have also been 128 arrests so far in coordination with alleged illegal activity involving the elections.

All of this comes after the elections had to be postponed by a week due to the Independent National Election Commission(INEC), said that it was not ready for the actual election date. Tensions quickly rose as both the APC and PDP blamed each other for the delay. There were also at least three cases of fires in county or state election offices where the INEC had stored their election day materials.

These 40 deaths are likely to be only the beginning of much wider spread violence through out the country. In 2011, when the current Nigerian President, Muhammadu Buhari, lost the campaign to then incumbent, Goodluck Jonathan, Violence in the North of Nigeria spiked, claiming the lives of hundreds. After the elections are announced in the next few days, these types of riots may again caused many people to lose their lives, including Christians who often face the brunt of attacks.

For interviews with Nathan Johnson, ICC’s Regional Manager, please contact Olivia Miller, Communications Coordinator: [email protected]