Residents loot Abuja warehouses, steal foodstuffs, roofing sheets

• NEMA beefs up security at own facilities nationwide

• Residents loot Abuja warehouses, steal foodstuffs, roofing sheets
  Express your feelings responsibly, Shettima urges citizens

• Address hunger, poverty, insecurity, JIBWIS tells govt

 

By Adam Umar, Maureen Onochie (Abuja), Abdullateef Aliyu (Lagos), Ado A. Musa (Jos), Abubakar S. Mohd (Zaria)

 

Some residents of a satellite town of Abuja yesterday invaded a warehouse owned by the Agricultural and Rural Development Secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Administration, at Gwagwa and looted food items.

They also looted two private storage facilities at neighbouring Karmo, also within the Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), and carted away foodstuffs, roofing sheets and other items.

Witnesses told Daily Trust that youths in their number stormed the FCTA’s warehouse located around Tasha area of the Gwagwa community at about 7am and stole bags of grains.

A resident, Jaafar Aminu, said the looting went on unhindered till 9am.

He said some persons from neighbouring Jiwa and Karmo towns also rushed to the same warehouse to steal food items.

He said the situation caused a gridlock on the Gwagwa-Karmo road linking Dei-Dei and Jabi communities.

Another resident, Christopher Agbo, said apart from food items, steel fence sheets, doors and roofing sheets were also carted away from the government warehouse.

Some persons in the area said the grains looted might not be safe for human consumption as they appeared rotten.

It would be recalled that the warehouse was looted during the COVID-19 lockdown, with bags of grains as well as pumping machines meant for intervention stolen.

A resident of Karmo, Shehu Muhammad, told Daily Trust that the two stores looted at the community yesterday were owned by persons from Sabuwar-Unguwa and Rogo areas.

When contacted, the spokesperson of the FCT Police Command, Josephine Adeh, said the police were able to control the situation.

Recently, civil society groups and the Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC) had led protests across states against the cost-of-living crisis in the country.

Some residents of Zaria, Kaduna State, had, on Friday, reportedly blocked a truck conveying foodstuffs and looted cartons of noodles.

On February 22, during a protest by fish vendors over rising food prices, hoodlums reportedly attacked a trailer load of foodstuffs at Suleja, Niger State.

 

NEMA beefs up security at own warehouses nationwide

Meanwhile, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) yesterday clarified that its warehouse was not looted as suggested by some media reports earlier in the day.

Its spokesman, Manzo Ezekiel, in a statement, said the agency, however, sympathised with owners of the looted facilities.

“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,” he stated.

 

JIBWIS to govt: Address hunger, poverty, insecurity

The Jama’atu Izalatil Bid’ah wa Iqamatus Sunnah (JIBWIS) has called on government at all levels to address poverty, insecurity, unemployment and hunger in the country.

The Islamic group made the call yesterday in a communique issued at the end of its 31st annual national seminar themed ‘Transformative Leadership is the Basis of a United and Progressive Society’ held at the University of Jos, Plateau State.

It also called for reversal of the petrol subsidy removal “and other policies that are responsible for current economic stagnation and other vices.”

It appealed to the federal government to intensify efforts towards improving agriculture “as the highest employer of labour and food security in the country.”

It commended President Bola Tinubu for giving “listening ears to the yearnings of Nigerians, especially about the issue of ECOWAS suspending some of its member countries for overthrowing their legitimately elected governments.”

National chairman, Council of Ulama of JIBWIS, Sheikh Sani Yahaya-Jingir, asked Muslims to “have unity of purpose and commence the 30 or 29-day compulsory Ramadan fasting upon sighting the new crescent, collectively.”

 

Zaria Muslims organise prayer over hardship

Muslims in Zaria yesterday held a special prayer session over the hardship in the country.

The prayer, held at the Mallawa Eid ground in Zaria, was led by the Chief Imam of Bakin Kasuwa Jumaah Mosque, Tudun Wada, Mallam Muhammadu Sani Labudda, who said the “unbearable hardship” required Allah’s intervention.

Suleiman Ibrahim, the head of Islamiyya schools’ association in Zaria, admonished Muslims to give arms to the needy and avoid sins. Sheikhs Muhammadu Dan Tine Habibi and Umar Dikko Mai Shinkafa of Fitiyanul Islam, Zaria, urged Muslims  to fear Allah and repent.

 

Express your feelings responsibly, Shettima urges Nigerians

Vice President Kashim Shettima yesterday said the federal government expected Nigerians to express their feelings over their circumstances responsibly.

He spoke in Lagos during the 29th pre-Ramadan lecture organised by the University of Lagos Muslim Alumni, with the theme ‘Economic Reforms for Nigeria: Challenges and Prospects for the Future’, delivered by the Chairman of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Niyi Yusuf.

Shettima, who is an alumnus of the institution, was represented by the Special Adviser on Political Matters in the Office of the Vice President, Dr Hakeem Baba-Ahmed. The vice president said the forthcoming Ramadan would come with “severe” challenges for many Nigerians.

Shettima stated: “The road to where we’re today was long and full of missed opportunities and tragic failures to build on our great potentials.

“Yet, my brothers and sisters, we do not have the choice of continuing in the direction that brought us where we’re today. We have to fix this country, and failure to do this is not an option. All the options we have are difficult and challenging, and they are, without a doubt, more telling on the poor. If there are easier and reliable alternatives to the policy choices we’ve adopted, we would have adopted them.

“Our administration does not plan to make the lives of Nigerians more difficult. Nor do we intend to deceive fellow citizens that the change in direction and the expected outcome can be achieved without pain or sacrifices.

 

Nigeria’s problems require local solutions – VP

The vice president also stated that Nigeria’s problems required local solutions.

“We’re also acutely aware that ours is a set of related Nigerian problems, and the solutions we seek must be genuinely informed by a Nigerian context, not the experiences of others or the preferences of special foreign interests which are removed from consequences of missteps or errors of judgement,” he said

He appealed to the university’s alumni to “make space” for the present administration to achieve the goal of turning Nigeria around.

“We expect that Nigerians should express their feelings over our circumstances in a responsible and mature manner. We’re also a deeply religious people, and we believe in the powers of faith and prayers.

“Let’s be reminded that Allah Subhanahu Wa Ta’ala tests His servants with ease and hardship, and He asks that we pray to Him for relief from hardship, and discipline in times of abundance,” Shettima said.

An Islamic scholar, Sheikh Dawud Alfanla Abdul-Maheed Eleha, attributed the Nigeria’s economic problem to the nation’s “extravagant lifestyle”, saying with its rich natural resources, “Nigeria has no reason to be poor.”

Prof. Jameelah Yaqub of the Lagos State University and Dr Jubril Salaudeen of the Nungu Business School said economic reforms must be holistic.

The chairman of the occasion, Malam Yusuf Ola-Olu Ali, represented by Wale Sonaike, said economic reforms must be well thought out and diligently implemented, adding that Nigeria must transform from a consumption nation to a production nation.

President, Muslim Ummah of South-West  Nigeria (MUSWEN), Alhaji Rasaki Oladejo, asked Nigerians to  be patient with President Tinubu.

 

Dangote canvasses investments in local industries

The President of Dangote Group, Aliko Dangote, said Dangote Industries Limited (DIL) had been contributing to the economic growth of Nigeria and the African continent by championing the cause of local content.

Dangote, represented at the ongoing Kaduna International Trade Fair by his Special Adviser, Fatima Wali-Abdulrahman, said, “By investing in local industries, talent, and resources, DIL does not only create jobs but also empower communities and foster sustainable economic growth.

“The aim was to commit to deepening local content values across its various business sectors in line with the theme of the 45th in the series of the Kaduna Trade Fair, ‘Sustainable Economic Recovery through Deepening of Local Content Value Chain.’

“In addition to these domestic contributions, the Dangote Group has expanded its footprint across the African continent, promoting regional economic integration and positioning Nigeria as a key player in intra-Africa trade.”