Police arrest 15 suspects over looting of Abuja warehouse

Police authorities in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) have arrested 15 suspects over the looting of a warehouse in the area.

Some residents had on Sunday morning looted a warehouse belonging to the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Department of Agriculture in the Tasha area of Abuja.

But hours after the incident, the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) police command said 15 persons had been nabbed over the looting of the warehouse.

“The FCT police command is fully informed about the impulsive attack on Agric Department Strategic food store located at Tasha, Abuja, on 2/03/2024 by some irate mobs, which resulted in the vandalism and looting of the warehouse,” the FCT Police Command said in a statement.

“The Command wishes to state that normalcy has since been restored to the environ and the situation is very much under control, as fifteen(15) suspects were arrested, including two local security guards employed by the warehouse management. Exhibits such as twenty-six (26) bags of maize, five motorcycles, and some vandalized aluminum roofings were recovered from the suspects.”

Sunday’s looting of the warehouse comes amid the biting economic hardship in Nigeria. Inflation figures have reached new highs, clocking 29.90 percent in January with the cost of living soaring since President Bola Tinubu declared an end to the payment of fuel subsidy.

His government’s floating of the naira further worsened the situation, sparking protests in several parts of the country.

The Federal Government quickly stepped in to cushion the impacts of the reforms, introducing palliatives and other measures. But they appear to have done little to address the problem. The Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) last week protested across the country over the government’s inability to meet the union’s demands in the wake of the fuel subsidy removal and the attendant hardship.

But President Tinubu is calling for patience for his government’s reforms to take root, insisting that there is no going back on the moves.