Next Cash And Carry Supermarket: Police Arrest, Name Three ‘Looters’ During Fire Outbreak

Three hoodlums who are said to have attempted to loot items during the Next Cash and Carry Supermarket fire incident on Sunday in Abuja have been apprehended.

Ezenwoko's Blog had reported earlier that the popular building which housed one of the biggest supermarkets in the Kado area of the Federal Capital Territory was gutted by fire on Sunday noon.

While the cause of the fire which had destroyed properties and goods worth millions of Naira is still unknown, the FCT Police Command confirmed it arrested at least three hoodlums who attempted to take advantage of the inferno.

A viral video also shared by Ezenwoko's Blog earlier had shown how unidentified individuals were conveying goods from the supermarket when the fire was still raging.

Clearing the air on controversies of suspected looting during the incident, the FCT Police spokesperson, DSP Josephine Adeh, in a statement made available to newsmen on Sunday, explained that those captured in the video were only rendering assistance by evacuating the goods and other valuables to a safer place.

The PPRO confirmed that there was no successful case of looting or carting away goods from the store.

Adeh, however, revealed that three young men who attempted to loot items were successfully arrested. He gave their names as Ali Audu aged 18 Years, Yahaya Yunusa aged 20 Years and Sahabi Abubakar aged 20 Years.

The PPRO said the FCT Commissioner of Police, CP Sunday Babaji had visited the scene for an on-the-spot assessment, stating that investigation is currently ongoing to unearth the cause of the incident.

According to her, when the command received the information, “a team of Police officers attached to Mabushi Police Divisional Headquarters responded swiftly to the scene where a concerted effort of the Federal Fire Service, FCT Fire Service, Julius Berger Fire Service and members of other security agencies were deployed to manage the situation, minimize damage, extinguish the inferno and ensure the maintenance of law and order. ”

“Well-meaning members of the surrounding communities came out en masse and helped in evacuating goods and other valuables from the supermarket to a safe location within the area with the supervision of Police Officers of the Command who were on the ground”.

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