Gov Fintiri Inspects Damage Sites By Hoodlums In The State Capital

By Mohammed Babangida Mohammed

Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri alongside Deputy Governor Seth Crowther and security commanders in the state Wednesday visited some sites of the damaged public and private facilities in the state capital which was perpetrated by some hoodlums on Sunday and Monday this week.

The hoodlums in their numbers struck in these places from the early hours of Sunday, vandalising and looting of food and non food items which prompted the government to impose an indefinite twenty four hours curfew across the state that is still in force.

Subsequently, Governor Umaru Fintiri in a state wide broadcast Tuesday gave twelve hours to those involved to the hoodlums to return the loot or face the full wrath of the law, an action that has started yielding positive results.

The affected places visited by the Governor included Upper Benue River Basin Development Authority, Yola, the Central Stores of the State and the National Emergency Management Agencies, NEMA, the North East Commodity Association NECAS, the head office of the Primary Healthcare Development Agency, the Nigeria Custom Service, warehouse, the Federal Road Safety Corps state office and Kwanan Waya Silos among others.

Governor Umaru Fintiri while speaking in an interview with newsmen after the inspection described the level of devastation as enormous and condemnable.

On the surrender of some of the looted properties by the looters, the Governor said he will meet with other members of the state executive council to security commanders and evaluate the situation and take the best decision for the overall interest of the state.

He declared that more than seventy percent of the non food items had been returned as by Wednesday afternoon and over sixty tractors recovered and were in the custody of security agencies, noting with satisfaction the level of compliance to the curfew order by the people.

The Governor urged the people to be calm and steer clear of such acts as according to him could affect the good programmes and policies of government targeted at recovery of the economy of the state which should be supported by all and Sundry.

Governor Umaru Fintiri explained that the commodities as palliatives brought to the state do not belong to the government but the people and those on the ground which were looted had not been formally handed over to the government for distribution.

He said people should have exercised patience as the palliatives were still in the stores lamenting that many people wrongly replicated the criminal act of hoodlums in other states by damaging public properties.

The Governor commended security agencies for maintaining law and order and apologized to the people whom he might have offended through his recent actions or inactions, maintaining that he might have done that unknowingly.

The Executive Chairman, Adamawa State Primary Healthcare Development Agency, Doctor Suleiman told newsmen that the hoodlums have vandalized office essential equipment and taken away properties worth millions of naira from the agency head office.

Contributing, the Senior Special Assistant to the Governor on Primary Healthcare, Doctor Aminu Aliyu Ismaila Numan described the act as devastating as the hoodlums looted medical other essentials.