Supporters as well as members of the Action Congress (AC) at Abaji yesterday morning protested over the result released by the Independent National Electoral Commission that declared the Peoples Democratic Party's candidate as the winner of the chairmanship council polls.

INEC's result which saw Alhaji Musa Yahaya Muhammed, the incumbent chairman of the council as winner was announced at 2.13 am.

The result INEC released showed PDP having 6,130 votes, AC 5,364 and the All Nigeria Peoples Party (ANPP) got 2,239 votes.

Our reporter learnt that immediately after the results were released, protesters in large numbers blocked the Abuja-Lokoja highway as well as the Abaji-Agyana road with heavy logs of wood and burnt tyres to show their displeasure at the result.

An AC member lamented that even before the results were read, armed mobile policemen drafted to INEC's office in the council were already shooting tear gas into the air to scare people from the venue.

"There was stampede in residential quarters close to INEC's office as families, who slept outside because of heat, had to rush inside their rooms to avoid suffocation," the member said.

Commenting on the protest, AC Abaji Chairman, Alhaji Muhammed Angulu Bello, accused the PDP of rigging at some polling units in rural areas of the council.

According to him, the PDP allegedly rigged at Agyana, Nanda, Mamagi, Gawu , Kutara and Gurdi villages after using suspected thugs to chase away party agents from other parties.

He said the thugs forcefully snatched some voter's cards and beat an AC party agent to stupor.

"They inflicted injuries on the agent, destroyed his motorcycle at Mamagi village, before chasing voters from the polling unit and AC is pained because it happened in the presence of security operatives and they did nothing," he lamented.

The chairman disclosed that another AC member, Idris Mohammed was badly brutalised at a polling unit in Nuku village by thugs suspected to be sympathetic to the PDP in the presence of policemen.

He said three vehicles that conveyed AC members from Pandagi Gbako to Nanda Polling unit had their windscreen smashed and the members' voter's cards seized by the thugs.

The AC chairman vowed that noting will stop the party from contesting the election result at the election petition tribunal as they are confident of winning their case with the genuine result at hand.

One of the injured AC members, Idris Mohammed, alleged he complained that the way the ballot box was placed is not safe, when Abaji Council's secretary, who is from the village ordered some youths to beat him in the presence of security men.

" I was only complaining for the ballot box to be placed in a safe way, when the council secretary ordered some boys to beat me in the presence of security men," he said.

Efforts to get the reaction of Deputy Commissioner of Police, Steven A. Ekpei, who headed security in the area proved abortive but Abaji Divisional Police Officer, Mr. Adepebga K. Adetoye, confirmed the incident and said the matter has been resolved.