Residents Invade Warehouse, Loot Food Items, Valuables In Nasarawa

Rabiu Omaku

It was a cardinal of arson, assault, and looting as people of Doma Local Government Council of Nasarawa State broke into the warehouse of Doma Local Government and looted valuables worth millions of naira belonging to the National Emergency Management Agency.

It was gathered that the looted relief materials were meant for distribution to victims of the 2022 flood victims in Doma and its environs.

A security operative who pleaded anonymity accused officials of the National Emergency Management Agency of noncompliance to due process in the distribution, saying lack of decorum and selection by NEMA foisted the beneficiaries to take the law into their hands by chasing them away.

Further Investigation reveals that NEMA and the Nasarawa State Emergency Management Agency NASEMA led by Mr. Tukur Abubakar after the flagging off the event, left the venue due to pressure from the crowd who were waiting to receive their share of the items based on the inscription in the hand cards issued to them during registration exercise.

It reveals that there was alleged preferential treatment in calling names of beneficiaries, a situation that generated anger from a cross-section of the beneficiaries and nonbeneficiaries alike.

Some beneficiaries alleged that some officials of the Local Government council planned to cart away a large portion of the items from the store before the distribution day.

Feeler says a few officials who are in the habit of diverting a portion of the items from the warehouse connived with people not captured during the registration exercise mobilised and looted the items which include water pumps, mattresses, mats, plastic buckets, and blankets.

Other relief materials looted through organised criminals include good items ranging from 50kg of rice, 25kg, and seedlings, an improved variety of rice, and maize.

Others are groundnut oil and cooking utensils, organized crime, according to pundits was done with the help of a few security personnel from the Federal State, and local security apparatus attached to the warehouse was also involved in the diversion.

Some of them were seen either involved directly or abetting by supporting the looters.

Universal Reporters can authoritatively reveal that the delivery invoice accompanying the items was not presented before the distribution commenced.

Commenting on the distribution process and the incident, the Speaker of Doma Local Government Council Legislative Arm Mr. Albert Rabo lamented that the most vulnerable people did not benefit from the items.

At the time of filling in this report, many households were seen in groups lamenting the outcome of the exercise and calling for measures to curtail future occurrences.