In the big oil city of Port Harcourt, Oluranti Adegbenro, an ad hoc staff of the Independent National Electorate Commission, INEC, in Rivers State, found herself and her husband, Adekola Adegbenro ensnared in a political crisis that highlights the perils faced by those who stand against electoral corruption in Nigeria.
Mrs Adegbenro, a Christian from Ifedore Local Government in Ondo State and while on duty as an INEC official, made a decision during the 2018 elections that would alter the course of her family’s life forever.
She worked as an ad hoc staff of INEC during the April 11, 2015 gubernatorial election at the Rumudike Playground Alakahia I Polling Unit. The election that would produce a successor for then River’s Governor Rotimi Amaechi, now the country’s minister of transportation.
She also worked as an electoral official during the December 10, 2016 rerun election and during the September/October 2018 primary election.
Despite pressure to manipulate election results in favour of the ruling All Progressives Congress, APC, during these elections, she refused, citing her moral convictions and allegiance to the Peoples Democratic Party, PDP.
The refusal did not go unnoticed. What followed was a harrowing sequence of coercion and threats that escalated into outright violence.
“One of my wife’s colleagues approached her about altering the election tallies,” Mr Adegbenro, who spoke with The Trent recently recounted. “When she refused, the threats began.”
These threats weren’t empty. By November 2018, the situation had deteriorated rapidly. The Adegbenros started receiving anonymous phone calls, and soon, physical attacks followed.
On January 15, 2019, Mr Adegbenro was ambushed and severely beaten by men believed to be associated with the APC after a political meeting in Akure, roughly eight hours from their home in Port Harcourt.
“They beat me, shot around me, and left me for dead,” he said, recalling the terrifying ordeal. “I believe the thugs were sent by Rotimi Amaechi. As they beat me, they kept on referring to ‘His Excellency’ and his expectations.”
“One of them said, ‘His Excellency, should not know that we did not ‘off the husband'”, Mr Adegbenro revealed.
He believes the brutal attack was engineered to force his wife to succumb to pressure to agree to manipulate the upcoming gubernatorial election that was slated to hold in barely three weeks.
The Adegbenros’ story is not an isolated incident. It underscores the broader challenges facing Nigeria’s electoral integrity, where political actors often manipulate or violently coerce to sway election outcomes.
The couple’s experience sheds light on the immense pressures faced by election workers, who are frequently caught between upholding democratic principles and succumbing to life-threatening risks.
Despite reporting these incidents to the police, the response was tepid.
“The police are controlled by the government,” Mr Adegbenro lamented, suggesting a collusion that leaves little room for justice or protection for those like his family.
Left with no other options, the Adegbenros decided to flee Nigeria, fearing for their lives and the safety of their son, who has Down syndrome and requires special care.
“Our son wouldn’t be able to express himself if anything happened to him,” Mr. Adegbenro explained, highlighting another layer of their desperation.
Now relocated to a foreign country (location withheld for security reasons) because of fear of being killed, the Adegbenros hope to find safety and a dignified life far from the threats that once shadowed their every move.
Their story is a stark reminder of the risks some take to defend democratic processes in environments where political corruption and violence are rampant.
The international community continues to watch Nigeria’s struggle with democratic governance, advocating for protections for electoral workers and reforms that can ensure fair and free elections.
For the Adegbenros, their fight for a normal life continues in a foreign land, far from the home they were forced to abandon in January 2019 in the name of democracy and personal safety.
