As Soldiers take over security of the facility
By Rotimi Ojomoyela – Ado-Ekiti
The Federal Government on Saturday pre-emted further looting of its Silos in Ekiti State by drafting soldiers to take over the security of the facility located in Ado Ekiti, the scene of Friday looting spree.
It was not immediately clear when the stern-looking soldiers were deployed, but they were stationed at the two main entrance to the silos, apparently to prevent further looting of the facility.
The silos which belonged to the Federal Ministry of Agriculture were broken into by hoodlums on Friday night, carting away fertilizers and poisonous seeds preserved for planting while searching for CACOVID palliatives.
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Also attacked were State Emergency Management Agency warehouses, where materials stored as reliefs for flood victims were kept.
The hoodlums defied heavy downpour and attacked the silos located along with Federal Polytechnic, Ado Ekiti around 7.30 pm, and made away with items suspected to be poisonous and not consumable.
They were reported to have mistaken the fertilizers for garri and the preserved maize as consumable grains.
It was gathered that a large number of residents had boarded vehicles and motorcycles from far distances like Ijigbo, Ajilosun, and Odo Ado Area of the metropolis to the area to perpetuate the looting.
This scenario was said to have caused a traffic logjam along Ado-Ijan -Ikare road, as soldiers made spirited efforts to disperse the huge crowd of intending looters that massed at the scene.
This came on the heels of looting of CACOVID warehouses in Lagos, Osun, and Ondo States, where people made away with rice, beans, spaghetti, and other consumables.
This prompted the government to issue a public announcement that all palliatives allotted to Ekiti had been distributed, with no leftover.
Sensing danger inherent in consuming such killer commodities, the state government in a statement by the Information Commissioner, Barr. Akin Omole, warned that commodities being looted from the silos were poisonous.
The statement said: “Reports reaching us confirm that the Federal Government’s Silos, the Agric Development Programme (ADP) warehouse and the State Emergency Management Agency (SEMA) store, all in Ado- Ekiti, have been attacked by hoodlums under the guise of seeking CACOVID palliatives.
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“Ekiti State has NO CACOVID palliative warehouse as all the palliatives have been distributed. The items being carted away are Single Super Phosphate fertilizer and NPK which they have erroneously identified as Gaari.
“The SEMA store has emergency supplies for disaster response e.g. flood, fire, or any other emergencies.
“Some are even making away with corns preserved for planting, with chemical pre-fermentation. All these items are poisonous and not fit for consumption!
“We appeal to our people not to consume these items because they can kill. Ekiti State has NO COVID-19 Palliatives warehouse as all palliatives have been distributed to members of the public during the lockdown period”.
Vanguard
