Africa Press-Nigeria:
Thousands of Edo State’s youths Saturday invaded the Edo government-owned warehouse on Medical Stores Road, Uselu, Benin, looting valuable COVID-19 palliatives and other expensive items in the massive facility.
Some of the looted items included numerous cartons of noodles, mostly Indomie; bags of rice, beans and toiletries.
While the looting of the items was ongoing, a man lost his life, while a middle-aged woman was injured at the back of her neck, as she was bleeding profusely.
The man, according to witnesses, died while attempting to escape from the warehouse with his heavy loot.
The deceased gained access into the warehouse through the rear opening created on the roof by the looters, with the dangerous opening also used by many of his partners in crime.
The man, having taken his share of the items, made efforts to exit through the same opening, but he missed his steps and suddenly fell, hitting his head on the concrete and died on the spot.
Some soldiers, Saturday morning, attempted to prevent the surging crowd of looters from gaining entrance into the warehouse, but the people, mostly youths, had their way.
Governor Godwin Obaseki, however, described the breached warehouse as a strategic reserve to mitigate eventualities in Edo state.
Obaseki, through his Special Adviser on Media and Communication Strategy, Crusoe Osagie, stated that the warehouse was for storing palliative materials and medical supplies.
