Fire guts election office in key Nigerian state

A fire gutted an electoral commission office in central Nigeria, destroying ballot boxes and other materials just a week before polling, officials said on Sunday. The blaze happened at the Independent National Electoral Commission (INEC) Office in the Qua'an Pan area of Plateau state late on Saturday.
The INEC head of voter education and publicity in Plateau state, Osaretin Imahiyereobo, said of this latest incident: "A drunken security man was said to have caused the fire outbreak." Imahiyereobo said the office was "completely burnt with all its contents", including ballot boxes and uncollected voter ID cards.