Security operatives in Calabar begin a door to door search of stolen palliatives within the Calabar metropolis and hoodlums have begun dumping their loots into dustbins and various hideouts in the city.
The State’s commissioner of police, Abdulkadir Jimoh had given looters a 24-hour grace period to return their loot.
During the weekend, hoodlums in Calabar had joined the fray happening across other parts of Nigeria in looting COVID-19 palliative and destroying warehouses.
However, the state government imposed a 24-hour curfew and military officers filled the streets.
Youths in hotspots such as Calabar South, Eta Agbor, Asari Iso among other places then began to drop their looted items on the road or in waste bins. Also, items such as electronics and beddings were dropped at the roadside.
Further, the community of Asari Iso employed a town crier who went round speaking in Efik on Wednesday that all who looted properties from the house of Senator Gershom Bassey should drop it on the road as an order of the community.
Afraid of the wrath of the community, youths have panicked and abandoned their loots by the roadside. An eyewitness also reports that many of the hoodlums have gone into hiding for fear of arrest.
“At Ikot Effa and Asari Iso, the youths in the areas have started panicking as soldiers have been patrolling the area. They are also afraid of community wrath, so they have to drop them on the roads.
“Some of them have gone into hiding for fear of arrest just as some of them have dropped stolen items on roadsides so that security people can pick it up,” an eyewitness said.
Another resident of Calabar South said, “We commend Governor Ben Ayade for taking these drastic measures to restore sanity in the state. These hoodlums were almost taking over our Ancient City of Calabar and have destroyed our common heritage.
“But we are happy that the military are everywhere and they should be allowed to take charge, especially in Calabar South, which us the base of miscreants.”
Meanwhile, the Senior Special Assistant on Non-Indigens Affairs (Igbo) to Governor Ayade, Ugoji Nwabueze, Esq, has advised Igbo businessmen in Cross River to be careful not to buy or aid the transportation of the looted items as the looters may by now be desperately looking for buyers.
