The Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) on Wednesday revealed why underage persons who were not up to the statutory age of 18 are often registered in the northern part of the country for voting purposes.

The Director of Publicity and Voter Education of the Commission, Mr. Oluwole Osaze-Uzzi while speaking during a programme on the African Independent Television, ‘Kakaaki’ said the young citizens were forcefully registered because the lives of its registration officers were being threatened by some members of the communities.

While responding to questions over pictures and videos on the social media showing children registering and voting in northern Nigeria, Osaze-Uzzi said:

“I agree that it is the responsibility of the registration officer to refuse but there are times that circumstances are such that where there is present and clear danger that he risks being assaulted or being killed, I think it will be unreasonable to expect him not to succumb to the pressure. But we encourage them to report immediately they get out of that dangerous zone.

“Even to the untrained eye, that child doesn’t look more than 15, but in such circumstance, you cannot argue too much with them. The law says the registering officer is entitled to act on some kind of identification or birth certificate or proof of age.

“But very often, they are resisted, especially when there are a lot of people there. They are challenged in a charged atmosphere and they are there without any protection. Many of them are there in strange communities which they don’t know anything about. So there is undue pressure on them to register at this point.”

Osaze-Uzzi however said the commission had put a three-pronged mechanism in place that would de-list underage persons from the register and called on the media and public to assist the commission by exposing such incriminating cases to ensure a free, fair and credible election in 2019.