Ben Ayade, the Cross River State Governor, has ordered a house-to-house search to recover looted COVID-19 palliatives and other stolen propertie
Recall that over the weekend, looters broke into over 35 government and private properties, looted several items, and set some buildings ablaze. On Friday members of the public numbering over 15, 000 had broken into the Cross River State government uncompleted Fabrication Academy and carted away thousands of COVID-19 palliative meant for people of the state. They also looted and vandalised the homes of Senator Victor Ndoma Egba, Snetaor Gershom, the United Nations office, the Psychiatric home etc.
Similarly, the large crowd trooped into the State Emergency Management Agency, SEMA along Barracks road, the Ministry of Works warehouses at Ekrinim 2, broke the warehouses and also made away with relief materials. Calabar South Local Government headquarters at Anantigha was also vandalized and looted.
Men, women, some security personnel, young boys and girls were seen carting away hundreds of bags of rice, Indomie, salt, sugar, zinc and other items. Some people were heard shouting, “This is wickedness, it is our food let us pack it. Why did the government not give us since?”
Reacting to the incident, Governor Ayade in a statement released by his Special Adviser on Media and Publicity, Christian Ita, gave the security agents a marching order to begin a house-to-house search for the stolen items.
“Following the deployment of more soldiers to Calabar to help quell the violence, Cross River Governor, Sir Ben Ayade has asked security agencies in the State to take legitimate actions to halt the arson and carnage witnessed in some parts of Calabar. The governor also wants the security agents to carry out a house to house search for looted properties and arrest everyone involved in the looting of both public and private properties in the state” the statement in part read.
