- Senator Ndoma-Egba’s home looted, set on fire, Senator Folarin’s home in Ibadan invaded, looted
Days after the EndSARS protesters cleared the streets, hoodlums have taken over, unleashing anarchy on Nigeria as they loot shopping malls, warehouses, private residences and even silos for storing strategic national reserves that are often released in times of drought or emergency.
Two people died in the chase for food, one each in Awka, Anambra State and the other in Benin, Edo State.
On Saturday afternoon in the Cross River State capital, Calabar, hoodlums, after looting the palatial house of former Senate Leader and immediate past chairman of Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC), Senator Victor Ndoma Egba, located at Asariso Government Reserved Area, Calabar,they set the building on fire.
The same Saturday, hoodlums invaded the residence of Senator Teslim Folarin (APC-Oyo Central) in Ibadan, capital of Oyo State, carting away empowerment materials worth N200 million, which was meant for constituency empowerment, programme.
Senator Folarin is the hairman of the Senate Committee on Local Content and former Senate Leader. Items carted away include about 300 motorcycles, deep freezers and food items.
On Friday, hoodlums, some of whom may have been emboldened by the way they were bused into places like the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) and used to route the protesters off the streets, went into rampage. On Friday, they broke into a national silo at Osun Ankara, Irojo area of Ilesha, Osun State, and carted away food items.
The hoodlums also stormed warehouses on the premises of Cocoa Processing Industry, Ede, and looted food items donated to the Osun Food and Relief Committee by the private sector Coalition Against COVID-19.
The same of order of looting was recorded in Kwara, Ekiti and Cross River States, where the hoodlums stormed the COVID-19 food palliatives warehouses, carting away food items including bags of rice, noodles, beverages, salt, and sugar, garri, and vegetable oil.
In Calabar, the hoodlums also invaded the State Emergency Management Agency warehouse located inside the premises of the Cross River State owned newspaper, Nigerian Chronicle, setting both newspaper and warehouse ablaze.
In Edo State, one person died when hoodlums looted the Edo Pharmaceutical Company’s warehouse in Benin. They carted away various items such as cartoons of pastry, LPG gas cylinders, bags of rice, gallons of vegetables oil, vehicle batteries and other valuables.
Sources said that the victim died when as they were struggling to gain entry into the warehouse, he fell down and was trampled on. He later died of exhaustion.
In Osun State, Governor Adegboyega Oyetola on Saturday declared another 24-hour curfew after massive looting and disturbances by hoodlums. In a broadcast, the Governor said “the unfortunate situation” in the State necessitated the return to curfew, adding that the State government notes with huge disappointment, the abuse of the suspension of the curfew.
On Wednesday, the Governor had declared curfew but called it off on Friday when the situation was calm.
However, the events of Saturday depicted real anarchy as hoodlums and other residents were looting warehouses and attacking private and government properties.
According to Oyetola, “it is unfortunate that hoodlums and criminals have taken advantage of government’s action to wantonly loot government and private property, including private business premises and homes in several parts of the state this morning. This is unacceptable and it stands condemned.”
In Jos, capital of Plateau State, residents stormed a warehouse owned by the Plateau State Emergency Management Agency located in Bukuru, Jos South Local Government Area, carrying away bags of stock through the streets of Jos unchecked.
And in Anambra State, a man, simply identified as Ala Owerri, on Saturday died while trying to jump off a trailer suspected to be carrying food items at the popular Aroma Junction, Awka, the State capital.
Sources said that the victim, motor mechanic, had jumped into a moving trailer, thinking that truck was carrying food items. But seeing it carrying charcoal, he jumped off the moving trailer at the popular Aroma Junction but was crushed by the trailer tyres, which tore his stomach open just as his legs broke under the weight of the vehicle tyres.
The man had allegedly earlier gone to the State Emergency Management Agency office and carted away noodle cartons.
A mob then cornered the trailer and set it on fire.