Authorities in Nigeria's northeastern Adamawa state have imposed a statewide round-the-clock curfew to stop widespread looting of food stores in the state capital Yola by residents.
The looting, largely spearheaded by unemployed young people, saw hundreds of residents break into public and private warehouses storing grains and other commodities and cart them away, AFP news agency reports.
"The Governor of Adamawa State...Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri has declared a 24-hour curfew on the state, effective immediately Sunday 30th July, 2023," Humwashi Wonosikou, the governor's spokesman, said in a statement on Sunday.
The curfew was declared ''due to escalating violence by hoodlums attacking people and businesses,''Governor Fintiri said on Twitter which is now called X.
He said ''no movement is allowed, except for essential duties,'' and urged citizens to comply. Security personnel have been deployed to enforce the curfew.
Warehouses on alert
The looting is believed to have been triggered by economic hardship. Last month Nigeria ended a fuel subsidy regime, leading to petrol prices quadrupling and food prices soaring.
Nigeria's economy has been weakened by recession and the fallout from Covid-19, making life hard for its citizens, most of whom live on less than $2 a day.
Online video footage shows residents of Yola looting sacks of grain, cartons of pasta and other household items from a warehouse of Nigeria's emergency management agency (NEMA).
The plunder prompted NEMA to put its warehouses across Nigeria on alert to forestall possible looting, according to agency sources.
There were similar incidents of warehouses in 2020 across Nigeria during mass protests against police brutality which turned violent.
