Hunger protest: Public, private properties looted, set ablaze

Hoodlums yesterday took advantage of the hunger strike to destroy and loot public and private properties in Kano, Niger, Yobe, Kaduna, Nasarawa and other states.

In Kano, the Nigeria Communications Commission’s (NCC) office was looted and set ablaze, early in the morning of Day 1 of the protest. The newly constructed office was scheduled for inauguration next week.

The NCC Park, as it is being called, the first in the northwestern part of the country, was built to equip the youth with digital and innovative skills in information technology.

Some of the miscreants who looted shops located along Zaria Road behind the Trade Fair Complex in Kano were, however, arrested by armed security personnel. Items recovered from them included generator set, standing air conditioners, bags of rice, furniture and desktop computers, among others.

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Also, some other hoodlums reportedly clashed with security agents around Kantin Kwari market but were dispersed when the police fired teargas.

All gates of Kundila Housing Estate were shut and manned by armed men, preventing hoodlums, who had set bonfires on Zoo Road from penetrating the area.

Most shop owners along Zoo Road employed the services of vigilante groups to protect their properties. 

11 arrested as hoodlums burn LG secretariat, cars in Niger

The Niger State Police Command said it arrested 11 people following the burning of some buildings in Tafa LGA secretariat.

The spokesman of the command, SP Wasiu Abiodun, in a statement, said two cars were also set ablaze while two others were vandalised, adding that the hoodlums also stole valuables. 

“The hoodlums vandalised the secretariat, partly set it ablaze; two cars were also burnt and two others vandalised. They further looted valuables there-in, while the police and other security agencies responded to the scene and arrested 11 violent miscreants with different dangerous weapons, including firearms, as others were dispersed from the scene and some of the looted items were recovered,” Abiodun said. 

Public offices vandalised in Kaduna

Protesters in Kaduna have vandalised the offices of the Kaduna State Traffic and Environmental Law Enforcement Agency (KASTLEA) and the Kaduna Investment and Promotions Agency (KADIPA).

A senior staff of KASTELEA told Daily Trust that the protesters not only vandalised the offices but also looted items and set ablaze a tricycle found in the premises.

“Yes, our Zone 3 office was vandalised by the protesters, but we are still assessing the extent of the damage, including the KADIPA office adjacent to ours, which was also attacked by the youths,” he said. 

It was also gathered that a traffic light close to the office was torched by the protesting youths.

Another resident told Daily Trust that shops around Unguwar Sanusi were also affected by the actions of the hoodlums.

Attempts to reach Jamila Iliyasu, the Public Relations Officer of KASTELEA, were unsuccessful as she could not be contacted by phone.

Thugs torch party secretariat, loot food stores in Jigawa

The nationwide protests against hunger kicked off in over 10 major towns in Jigawa State with destruction and looting of government properties by hoodlums.

Government-owned agricultural stores were looted in the Hadejia area, according to residents.

In Gumel town, the store of the Jigawa State Agricultural Supply Company (JASCO), a private house belonging to a House of Representatives member in the state, and the house of the All Progressives Congress (APC) Zonal Vice Chairman, were looted by the protesting youths, who appeared to have overpowered the security men deployed in the area.

In Birnin Kudu, the state fertiliser and grains stores were looted by hoodlums who blocked all major roads linking the town, including the Kano-Maiduguri highway.

Also, the APC state secretariat in Dutse, the state capital was burnt. 

Seven buses burnt in Yobe

Seven mass transit buses were burnt in Potiskum, the headquarters of Potiskum Local Government Area of Yobe State, amid the #EndBadGovernance protests, Channels Television reported. 

The buses were set ablaze in the premises of the local government secretariat in Potiskum.

The spokesman for the Yobe State Police Command, Dungus Abdulkarim, confirmed the incident, saying the perpetrators will be brought to book. 

Shops looted in Gombe

The hunger protest turned violent in Gombe metropolis, with several shops looted by suspected hoodlums who unleashed mayhem on other members of the public.

Government offices, such as the Bureau for Public Service Reforms and Revenue Recovery Tribunal and private properties, such as Bima Lodge, one of the oldest hotels in the state, were looted by the protesters. 

They also destroyed billboards at the gate of the Government House.

All efforts by the state Commissioner of Police, Hayatu Usman and the Commandant of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Muhammad Bello Muazu, as well as the Department of Security Service (SSS), to calm the protesters failed.

Nasarawa youths block highway, loot shops

Our correspondent also reported that the protest in the Mararaba part of Karu LGA of Nasarawa State turned violent, with some hoodlums burning and looting shops along the Keffi-Abuja highway in the area.

The protesters, in their numbers, blocked the express road and threatened to beat up motorists who refused to turn back.

The chairman of Karu local government area imposed a 24-hour curfew in the locality.

Protests also took place on the outskirts of Keffi with both sides of the highway blocked, preventing vehicular movement.

Residents loot rice warehouse in Edo 

The Edo State government and the All Progressives Congress (APC) are embroiled in a dispute over the ownership of rice looted from a warehouse in Edo State, which bore the inscription of the Edo State Government’s food support programme.

While the state government denies owning a warehouse in the area where the looting took place, the APC insists that the looted rice had the state government’s inscription on it.

A viral video surfaced online showing residents looting rice from a truck parked in a warehouse at the Urora axis, near Benin City.

In response, the Edo State government, through a statement by the Commissioner for Communication and Orientation, Chris Nehikhare, denied ownership of the warehouse.

Responding to the state government’s claim, APC Acting Chairman, Jarret Tenebe, insisted that the rice in the video was part of the federal government’s palliative measures to cushion the adverse effects of fuel subsidy removal on the people of the state.