Further details have emerged that the warehouse looted by some Abuja residents on Sunday morning belonged to the FCT Agriculture Secretariat and not the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) as widely reported.
The FCT Agriculture Secretariat’s public relations officer, Zakari Aliyu confirmed to Channels Television via text message that the looted warehouse belonged to its agency.
However, Aliyu did not disclose further details on the looted warehouse.
In the early morning of Sunday, March 3, some Abuja residents raided a warehouse in the Gwagwa area of the FCT, with some people mistaking it for one of NEMA’s warehouses.
Reacting to the incident, NEMA spokesperson, Manzo Ezekiel, in a statement said the looted warehouse “was not affiliated with the agency.”
The residents who raided the warehouse carted away food items and caused a gridlock in the area, according to an eyewitness account.
Daily Trust newspaper quoted Jaafar Aminu, a resident of the area, who said the looting of grains began at about 7:00 am and continued till 9:00 am.
He said residents of Jiwa and Karmo, neighbouring areas of Gwagwa, participated in the looting of the warehouse.
Meanwhile, Nigerians have been battling spiralling inflation that has compounded the cost of living crisis in the country.
Before this incident, there had been protests over the rising cost of living in different parts of the country, culminating in demonstrations by the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) last week.
There have also been reports across the country of citizens looting trailers conveying food items, but the Explainer has not verified this claim independently.
However, there was widespread looting of government warehouses in 2020 across the country during the COVID-19 pandemic.
In a follow-up to the latest raid, NEMA said it has taken measures to safeguard its facilities 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,” the statement said.
