By Boluwaji Obahopo, Omeiza Ajayi, Emma Una, Luminous Jannamike & Ike Uchechukwu
Lokoja, the capital of Kogi State, was ,like a war zone Sunday night through yesterday, as hoodlums seeking COVID-19 palliatives clashed with security operatives and invaded the state’s Agricultural Development Project, ADP, and private warehouses, carting away fertilizers and rice.

In the clash, four persons were shot dead, while 30 others, including a journalist, sustained various degrees of injuries.

The situation in Kogi was replicated in Calabar, Cross River State, where no fewer than 10 persons, including a pregnant woman, died as a result of the clash between hoodlums and security agents through Saturday till late Sunday night.

Besides those killed in the Calabar clash, at least 80 looters, according to the state police command, have been arrested.

Also, two women died on Monday in a vicious struggle for COVID-19 palliatives looted by hoodlums in a warehouse on Secretariat Road in Gwagwalada Area Council, Abuja.

Kogi looters engage security men

In the Kogi attack, hoodlums, armed with dangerous weapons, burgled the Kogi State Agricultural Development Project warehouse on Sunday night and carted away fertilizers.

They made straight for the warehouse after they successfully overpowered the security men deployed to guard the agency.

The looting continued till yesterday morning as hoodlums invaded a private warehouse belonging to a business tycoon, Mr. Bolu Rotimi, carting away rice.

Other hoodlums simultaneously attacked the ATM stand of a new generation bank located at Cemetery Junction, opposite an eatery.

The hoodlums moved on to Ganaja Junction, where they also quickly shifted their operation to Zone 8 Police junction to prevent the security men gaining access into another warehouse they launched an attack.

However, the security men managed to eventually access the warehouse and engaged the hoodlums in a shoot-out that lasted close to an hour. The policemen took control of the area momentarily.

But a few minutes after the security men left, the hoodlums regrouped, attacked the warehouse and carted away rice.

Simultaneously, another set of hoodlums attacked another bank’s ATM and tried to burgle the ATM machine.

They were, however, resisted by security operatives who shot at them as they fled the scene.

In the process of the clashes between the policemen and the hoodlums, Kogi State correspondent of The Sun newspaper, Mr. Emmanuel Adeyemi, was hit by a stray bullet and is currently receiving treatment at a private hospital in Lokoja

Reacting, Kogi State police command said it arrested some of the suspected hoodlums in connection with the Sunday night raiding of the ADP office

The State Police Public Relation Officer, Mr. William Aya, who confirmed the incident, said yesterday that the Commissioner of Police, Mr. Ayuba Ede, visited the scene on Sunday night and also on yesterday morning.

He noted that some suspects were arrested by the command which had commenced investigation into the attack, stressing that security men have been deployed to the scene to avoid further looting.

Meanwhile, Kogi State government has condemned the Sunday night and Monday morning incidents.

The Commissioner for Information and Communications, Mr. Kingsley Fanwo in a statement yesterday, said those behind the attack have been arrested by security agents in the state.

10 killed in Calabar, as looters clash with security men

In Calabar, at least 10 persons died as looters clashed with security agents. Some of the victims died from the stampede that trailed hoodlums’ vandalism on public warehouses and private homes.

The hoodlums defied the 24-hour curfew imposed on the state by Governor Ben Ayade to continue their attacks on warehouses in Calabar.

At the Free Trade Zone, three persons reportedly died in a confrontation with soldiers and Customs men when the hoodlums attempted to loot rice at the Nigeria Customs warehouse

“We told them we went there in peace and not war, that they should allow us pick rice in the warehouse but they refused and when some people tried to go in there by force, they shot and killed three persons,” one of the looters told Vanguard.

At the West African Examination Council’s office located along the Murtala Mohammad Highway, two persons were reportedly killed while trying to loot furniture in the place.

One of the hoodlums is said to be an electrician and father of three who resides along Atakpa in Calabar South.

“His name is Obongette and he was killed on his third trip to loot after he had successfully looted and carted away items to his house with his car twice,” a neighbour who preferred anonymity told Vanguard yesterday.

Pregnant woman trampled to death

In another instance, a pregnant lady and an old woman were trampled to death at Ikotenim while struggling to cart away foodstuff at the government warehouse where some COVID-19 palliatives were stored.

At Mbukpa, two other persons reportedly died while trying to loot shops after security agents had taken over the streets to protect the city from the vandalism and destruction which gripped city last weekend.

The curfew imposed on the city is still on as schools, markets and other public places remained closed yesterday, while soldiers and a teams of policemen conducted searches in homes to recover some of the looted items.

Miss Irene Ugbo, Police Public Relations Officer, of the state police command, said the deaths resulted from clashes among looting gangs and cases of stampede of looters.

However, the state police command has begun the arrest of those who vandalized various government property in the state capital on Sunday.