FCT warehouse looting not hunger, but criminal act — Mahmoud

The Minister of State for the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Dr Mariya Mahmoud, has declared that the looting of a warehouse in Gwagwa-Tasha on Sunday by hoodlums was beyond hunger but a criminal act.

The Minister made this declaration at the end of her assessment visit to Gwagwa-Tasha to ascertain the level of damage to the warehouse.

Speaking to journalists at the scene, Mahmoud described what she saw as an unfortunate incident, a situation in which hoodlums carted away all the grains and other foodstuffs, including the roofs and fence.

The Minister, expressing disappointment over the attitude of the youths in the area, assured that the Administration would establish a police post in all government warehouses across the territory going forward.

She said, “We are here due to the unfortunate incident that happened early hours of yesterday, where hoodlums attacked this warehouse and took everything, including the fence.

Not only the food items, but also the roofing, windows, gates, and even the offices were all attacked. You can see the level of damage.

Nothing is left here, including the machinery used for processing these items. As you have heard, people around, the youth of the environment or the community, are suspected to have instigated this incident. This is a very sad event, and we are not happy about it.”

The Minister revealed that the unfortunate incident occurred when the Administration was restocking its warehouse to meet the directive of Mr. President to distribute palliatives to all six area councils in FCT. She vowed that the Administration would prosecute those behind the ugly incident.

According to her, “We distributed about twice and were about to do the third one when these trucks were here to offload the food items.

They were attacked, injuring some people on duty. This is a bad situation, and the Administration will not take it lightly. All those involved must be brought to book.

This is a sign that we need to reinforce the security around all our warehouses because you have to keep food.

However, the way this happened is beyond hunger; it’s a criminal act. Someone who is hungry cannot remove all the roofing, doors, windows, and gates. This does not show that we are good ambassadors of the nation. We will definitely take action regarding this event.”

Mahmoud stressed that the incident may slow down the distribution of palliatives in the territory, saying, “We have to reconstruct, not even renovate this warehouse, all the offices, and the gates that are damaged.”