April 19, 2003 | LAGOS, Nigeria (AP) -- Nigerian soldiers opened fire on young men at a polling station Saturday, killing six people, and a gang stuffed ballot boxes into the trunk of a car during presidential elections in this oil-rich, yet desperately poor nation.
Despite those and several other incidents, observers said the vote for president and 36 state governors in Africa's most populous nation went smoothly.
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo is seeking a second term, and seems likely to win after his ruling party swept legislative elections a week ago. Three of his challengers were former army generals and he, too, was a military leader before he shed his uniform for traditional robes and was elected president four years ago.
Nigeria has never had a peaceful transition from one civilian government to another, and though tensions remained high after polling stations closed, the violence did not appear to be widespread.
The shooting occurred in the oil-producing Niger Delta, where many boycotted the balloting. Soldiers in the town of Okoroba started shooting at youths who refused to disperse from a polling station, said Derrick Marco, leader of election observers from the Institute of Democracy in South Africa.
Elsewhere in the region, ethnic Ijaw militants boycotted the vote and there was no sign of voting in one village, Ogbe-Ijoh.
"We can never allow elections until our demands are met," said Kinsgley Otuaro, an Ijaw militant leader whose supporters long have accused Obasanjo's government of colluding with rival Itsekiris to draw up voting districts unfavorable to Ijaws.
Many of Obasanjo's opponents charged that last week's legislative vote was rigged, and warned that their supporters would be ready to fight if the ruling party used fraud in the presidential vote.
Out of Nigeria's population of 126 million, some 61 million people were registered for the ballot. It was unclear how many voted, though officials said turnout was high.
Election commission chief Abel Guobadia said he was satisfied with the voting, despite some irregularities. Results likely will emerge Monday or Tuesday, he said.
"There is a high degree of enthusiasm among voters," Guobadia said as he toured villages near the capital, Abuja.
At a balloting station in Madala village, he confiscated voters' cards from two suspected underaged voters who appeared as young as 10.
Max Van den Berg, an European Union election monitor, said his team would watch closely when officials tally the results.
"I have hope but I also see serious weaknesses," he said.
The balloting poses the stiffest test to Nigerian democracy since Obasanjo's 1999 election ended 15 years of brutal military rule.
The elections four years ago were overseen by the military. Previous civilian-run elections were overturned by army coups.
Several opposition leaders threatened that their supporters might turn violent if there was evidence of rigging. Muhammadu Buhari -- one of the three former generals challenging Obasanjo -- has threatened "mass action," a term that in Nigeria generally refers to violent protests.
While casting his ballot in a village in northern Nigeria, Buhari told supporters to launch "a spontaneous reaction wherever fraud takes place." When asked to clarify, he added: "I'm not inciting violence, I'm only asking people to exercise their civil rights."
As a military officer, Buhari launched a coup in 1983 that toppled Nigeria's civilian ruler, Shehu Shagari, after elections generally derided as flawed.
One Buhari supporter in the northern city of Kano said he was willing to fight if fraud was found.
"I am ready to defy the police," Idriss Ibrahim, a 32-year-old service station attendant, said.
There were scattered signs of corruption.
In Warri, an Associated Press photographer saw 10 young men loading empty ballot boxes and bundles of voting cards into a car outside an election commission headquarters. When he took a picture, some of the youths slapped and punched him until he managed to get away.
In the northern city of Maiduguri, an AP reporter saw a man throwing thick bundles of small banknotes out of a car window near a ballot station. Witnesses identified the man as an opposition politician, although this could not be independently confirmed.
There were some encouraging signs, including new efforts to protect voter privacy. In the ballot last week, almost nobody voted in privacy. For the presidential election, authorities set up booths made of grass mats to stop snooping.
Some Nigerians worried their votes would not be counted. Others seemed resigned.
"I have cast my vote," said Barry Onuzulike, voting in the eastern city of Enugu. "Whatever games the big men play with the final figures is out of my hands."
Despite those and several other incidents, observers said the vote for president and 36 state governors in Africa's most populous nation went smoothly.
Nigerian President Olusegun Obasanjo is seeking a second term, and seems likely to win after his ruling party swept legislative elections a week ago. Three of his challengers were former army generals and he, too, was a military leader before he shed his uniform for traditional robes and was elected president four years ago.
Nigeria has never had a peaceful transition from one civilian government to another, and though tensions remained high after polling stations closed, the violence did not appear to be widespread.
The shooting occurred in the oil-producing Niger Delta, where many boycotted the balloting. Soldiers in the town of Okoroba started shooting at youths who refused to disperse from a polling station, said Derrick Marco, leader of election observers from the Institute of Democracy in South Africa.
Elsewhere in the region, ethnic Ijaw militants boycotted the vote and there was no sign of voting in one village, Ogbe-Ijoh.
"We can never allow elections until our demands are met," said Kinsgley Otuaro, an Ijaw militant leader whose supporters long have accused Obasanjo's government of colluding with rival Itsekiris to draw up voting districts unfavorable to Ijaws.
Many of Obasanjo's opponents charged that last week's legislative vote was rigged, and warned that their supporters would be ready to fight if the ruling party used fraud in the presidential vote.
Out of Nigeria's population of 126 million, some 61 million people were registered for the ballot. It was unclear how many voted, though officials said turnout was high.
Election commission chief Abel Guobadia said he was satisfied with the voting, despite some irregularities. Results likely will emerge Monday or Tuesday, he said.
"There is a high degree of enthusiasm among voters," Guobadia said as he toured villages near the capital, Abuja.
At a balloting station in Madala village, he confiscated voters' cards from two suspected underaged voters who appeared as young as 10.
Max Van den Berg, an European Union election monitor, said his team would watch closely when officials tally the results.
"I have hope but I also see serious weaknesses," he said.
The balloting poses the stiffest test to Nigerian democracy since Obasanjo's 1999 election ended 15 years of brutal military rule.
The elections four years ago were overseen by the military. Previous civilian-run elections were overturned by army coups.
Several opposition leaders threatened that their supporters might turn violent if there was evidence of rigging. Muhammadu Buhari -- one of the three former generals challenging Obasanjo -- has threatened "mass action," a term that in Nigeria generally refers to violent protests.
While casting his ballot in a village in northern Nigeria, Buhari told supporters to launch "a spontaneous reaction wherever fraud takes place." When asked to clarify, he added: "I'm not inciting violence, I'm only asking people to exercise their civil rights."
As a military officer, Buhari launched a coup in 1983 that toppled Nigeria's civilian ruler, Shehu Shagari, after elections generally derided as flawed.
One Buhari supporter in the northern city of Kano said he was willing to fight if fraud was found.
"I am ready to defy the police," Idriss Ibrahim, a 32-year-old service station attendant, said.
There were scattered signs of corruption.
In Warri, an Associated Press photographer saw 10 young men loading empty ballot boxes and bundles of voting cards into a car outside an election commission headquarters. When he took a picture, some of the youths slapped and punched him until he managed to get away.
In the northern city of Maiduguri, an AP reporter saw a man throwing thick bundles of small banknotes out of a car window near a ballot station. Witnesses identified the man as an opposition politician, although this could not be independently confirmed.
There were some encouraging signs, including new efforts to protect voter privacy. In the ballot last week, almost nobody voted in privacy. For the presidential election, authorities set up booths made of grass mats to stop snooping.
Some Nigerians worried their votes would not be counted. Others seemed resigned.
"I have cast my vote," said Barry Onuzulike, voting in the eastern city of Enugu. "Whatever games the big men play with the final figures is out of my hands."
