An Abuja-based businessman, Murtala Ibrahim Gusau, has reacted to the invasion of his warehouse by suspected hoodlums in the Karmo area of Abuja.
A private warehouse in the Karmo area of the capital city was attacked by hoodlums who looted hundreds of bagged grains and other commodities.
Gusau said that the hoodlums arrived at his store located at Sabuwar-Unguwa area in the community around 9am and forced their way in.
He noted that some of the hoodlums were from the community while others have arrived on motorcycles from Gwagwa town.
“On getting the information about the incident, I ran to the Karmo Police Division but only to learn that the police there had left for Gwagwa where the first incident took place,” Gusau said.
“Same information I got at the vigilante office around the market. So, I went back to the market and invited my fellow traders.
“On arrival, we discovered that the youth had already started looting the food items, and all efforts to stop them were not successful, as they used the arms in their possession, like sticks and machetes to attack us. I sustained some injuries from the attack,” he added.
Given the breakdown about the looted items, the trader disclosed that about 711 bags of rice were stolen along with 652 bags of beans, as well as 1,602 bags of sugar.
Gusau, however, added that he was able to recover some of the stolen food items through the efforts of Karmo policemen, who arrived around an hour later in company of other policemen from the Life Camp division, and the FCT Police Command.
“The police were able to recover about 363 bags of rice, 475 bags of beans, and also 1,255 bags of sugar. We recovered them from some household and also the vandal’s hideout,” he said.
The businessman revealed that the food items supplied were meant for Ramadan packages for the less privileged.