Abuja Warehouse looting, Panic grips biz owners
· NEMA beefs security around warehouses nationwide
By Laraba MUREY
As hardship persists across the country, hungry residents of Abuja, Federal Capital Territory looted a warehouse on the outskirts of the territory of foodstuffs and other essentials.
The brigandage has thrown business owners especially of essential commodities and warehouse owners into panic.
Youths in their hundreds, on Sunday morning, invaded the store house belonging to the FCTA Agriculture Secretariat, where they looted varieties of grains and other food items amounting to millions of naira.
The facility located at the Gwagwa-Tasha community in AMAC, was attacked around 8am, when irate residents discovered a trailer loading bags of grains from the facility to be taken to an unknown destination.
The spokesperson of the FCT Agriculture Secretariat, Zakari Aliyu, who confirmed the incident, said the hoodlums looted food items and also vandalized and carted away doors and windows of the stores.
Reports had earlier claimed that the looted warehouse belongs to the National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA. However, a statement from the press unit of NEMA clarified that the looted warehouse does not belong to the agency.
The statement signed by Manzo Ezekiel, sympathized with owners of the looted facility, adding that the agency had strengthen security in and around the agency’s offices and warehouses nationwide.
“To forestall any security breach at NEMA facilities, the Director General Mustapha Habib Ahmed has directed Zonal Directors and Heads of Operations to strengthen security in and around the Agency’s offices and warehouses nationwide.”
Meanwhile, eyewitnesses who spoke to our correspondent, said residents had believed that the grains that were being moved from the FCTA warehouse were part of the items the federal government had announced that would soon be distributed to citizens.
They feared the grains were being diverted by politicians for their personal use, and in turn, they looted the facility.
They also blamed the looting on hunger and the current economic hardship across the country owing to the removal of fuel subsidy and the floating of the naira.
A resident of Gwagwa, David Onuche, said the people were angry because most of them were not aware that the facility kept such volume of grains yet people were going hungry.
“Many people didn’t even know that the facility had such number grains. And as you know, many people have been facing hunger and starvation, due to the bad economy. So, seeing a trailer loading these grains, was unbearable to them. And that was why they swooped on the facility and started taking the grains”, he said.
Another resident of the area, who gave his name as Samaila Dauda, said the looting was not only carried out by residents of the immediate community, but also by residents of neighbouring Jiwa and Karmo communities, as well as passers-by.
He said that some police officers, who were drafted to the facility to stop the looting were overwhelmed as they couldn’t arrest anybody.
Though the situation had been brought under control when our correspondent visited the area, some business owners that were usually closed to business on Sundays were seen monitoring their shops so as to wade off possible looters.
Some of them who spoke with The Abuja Inquirer, were worried that the situation could degenerate to another #EndSars protest where businesses were looted and private warehouses destroyed by hoodlums.
A number of them were grateful that the looting occurred on a Sunday morning when most residents were either resting in their homes or were at their places of worship.
One of such business owners, who simply gave his name as Gabson, said, “We have to thank God that this looting did not go beyond the attack on the warehouse, because things could have gotten as bad as it did during the #EndSars.
“We pray government does something fast so we don’t suffer like we did during that period. People are hungry and if you don’t do something about it they will begin to loot to fend fir themselves and that is the direction we are headed and that is risky for businesses.”
Only a week ago, a protest in neighbouring Niger State over rising food prices turned violent after hoodlums hijacked a trailer load of foodstuffs along the Suleja-Kaduna Road.
Eyewitnesses report that the hijackers overpowered the driver and took control of the trailer loaded with rice and other items.
There has been a wave of protests in parts of the country over the hardship in the land. The protest which started in Kpakungu in Minna, spread to Osogbo, the Osun state capital, to Ekiti, Oyo and Lagos states.
The Nigerian Labour Congress had held two-day nationwide protest starting from Feb. 27, demanding the government ease economic stress triggered by the removal of the petrol subsidy.
Confirming the Sunday incident, the spokesperson for the FCT Police Command, Josephine Adeh, in a text message said, “The situation is now under control.”
