Tony Osauzo, Benin
More facts have emerged regarding the looting spree of the government warehouse on Medical Stores Road, Benin, with an unidentified young man shot dead by security operatives and another girl injured, while a third person sustained bullet injuries while attempting to loot.
Meanwhile, men of the Nigeria Army and Nigeria Security and Civil Defense Corps (NSCDC) saved another warehouse house from being burgled by rioters in Benin City.
The youths, who had earlier vandalised four warehouses in the city located at Medical Store Road, Sapele Road, Golf Course Road and a private warehouse at Eribo Estate, Textile Mills Road, had attempted to raid another privately-owned Osula warehouse, but were repelled by the combined team of the security personnel drafted to secure the place.
The Osula warehouse, said to be owned by Osula Foundation, is located near the headquarters of the 4th Brigade of the Nigeria Army, and the Government House, Benin City; yet in spite of that hundreds of youths had attempted to raid the facility.
The NSCDC personnel, assisted by some soldiers, cordoned off the area, even as the youths stood at a distance, mapping out ways to break the security barricade.
One of the youths, who apparently believed the food items stored in the warehouse belonged to them and that they should be allowed to pick them, told reporters that it was wrong to invite the military to a purely civil matter, describing the presence of the armed personnel in that vicinity as ‘uncivil and undemocratic’.