By Chinedu Asadu, ABUJA
Nigeria
Residents of northeastern Nigeria’s Adamawa state were prohibited from leaving home Monday as authorities enforced a 24-hour lockdown period in response to what they said was widespread looting of shops and warehouses.
Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri
declared the around-the-clock curfew Sunday in response to “escalating violence
by hoodlums attacking people and businesses” in the state capital, his
spokesperson said in a statement.
The statement alleged the
law-breakers assaulted residents in Yola while breaking into businesses and
homes and “carting away property.”
Several government policies
introduced by Nigerian President Bola Tinubu, who took office in late
May, have further squeezed millions of people battling with hunger and poverty
in Africa’s biggest economy. The government ended decades-long gasoline
subsidies, more than doubling the price of gas and causing a spike in prices of
food and other essential commodities.
Images posted on social media
appeared to show youths in Yola running away from shops carrying bags and
household items. Additional security forces were deployed to the city, where
the situation appeared calm as of Monday morning.
The state police command said
it arrested 44 suspects and was investigating Sunday’s unrest. “Items like
water pumps and seeds looted from the stores were seized from the suspects,”
police spokesman Suleiman Nguroje said.
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