Arsonists raze Nigeria's ruling party secretariat

Arsonists stormed a secretariat of Nigeria's ruling Peoples Democratic Party on Sunday and razed the building, police authorities said.

Ismaila Numan, spokesperson of the police in central Nigeria's Nasarawa State, said so far, 18 suspects have been arrested following the burning down of the ruling party's secretariat in Obi district of of the province.

More policemen have been deployed to the secretariat's location to forestall further breakdown of law and order, he said, noting the arsonists struck less than 48 hours after the ruling party held its gubernatorial campaign rally in the state.

A senior official of the Nigerian ruling party said all documents and valuable items of the political group were burned during the arsonists' attack.

"We implore security agencies in the state to take note of the attack on our members and property and to, as a matter of urgency, provide security for all our members and supporters," said Yunana Iliya, chairman of the Nigerian party in Nasarawa State.

The attack is the latest in the pre-election violence so far recorded in Nigeria, Africa's most populous country, where a general election is due next month.

Last Tuesday, a shooting spree, in which a policeman was killed and three others were injured, marred a political rally of the opposition All Progressives Congress party in the southern state of Rivers.

A local TV journalist and other opposition party supporters were among the civilian casualties at the rally which ended abruptly when unknown people threw explosive devices at the venue before shooting indiscriminately at the attendees.

Nigeria's presidential and governorship elections will hold on March 28 and April 11 respectively, according to the electoral body. Endi