Defiant Hoodlums have continued the looting of private and public property hours after the Chief of Army Staff Tujur Buratai Just yesterday ordered army officers and their men to go after and deal decisively with looters who invade and loot both public and private properties.
After the order yesterday by the Army Chief, hoodlums in their numbers carried on a spree of wanton looting of shops in Kuje Area of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The hoodlums searched for palliatives at the Kuje Council Secretariat; unlucky, they then started invading peoples shops in the market area and looted valuables there.
The hoodlums also invaded the Secretariat of the National Youth Service Corps (NYSC) where they ransacked for palliatives but resorted to looting other valuables when they could not find the palliatives there. The hoodlums looted things such as fans, mattresses, training kits, motorcycles and other valuables and made away with those items.
The presence of the hoodlums and their acts of lawlessness in these areas in Abuja made the residents to feel scared as they feared for their safety while the looting lasted. Report revealed that some youths in the area tried to stop the hoodlums but it did not work.
Soldiers and security agents go after the looters as two people were shot.
Security agents rose up to the occasion to repel the rampaging looters and stop them. Soldiers and police operatives stormed the area to stop the looters from vandalizing and looting valuables.
In the process, soldiers fired shots in the air to scare the looters. A witness stated that two persons were shot when the looters tried to confront the soldiers who chased them down to Kukwaba area. Although, the witness did state if the victims were dead. It was later made known that one of the victims was shot in the hand and the other one in the leg.
At the end of the clash, the soldiers and other security agencies were able to repel the looters and 41 persons were arrested who will face prosecution. The arrest of the 41 people was confirmed by the Director-General of the NYSC, Brigadier Shuaibu Ibrahim when he addressed the press on the incident especially the invasion of the NYSC Camp by the hoodlums who looted things there.
Looters defied Buratai’s warning and order.
The Chief of Army Staff, Buratai had warned looters to stop the unlawful acts of invading public and private properties and looting valuables. Buratai also ordered army officers and their men to go after the looters and deal decisively with them. Yet, the looters in Abuja defied the order and still embarked on looting of both private and public properties.
Expect more consequences in the coming days as more soldiers are most likely to be deployed to deal with the looters especially in Abuja and other hotbeds where these looters defy the order and operate. This is more so now that it has made headlines that the looters defied the warning and still trooped out to loot.
It means that they do not care about the consequences. This may make the soldiers to be harder on them going forward. Many of the looters that will still embark on looting may regret their actions in the coming days.
(C) Control TV 2020.
