QUOTE: So, who were (are) the looters, rioters and arsonists who afflicted Nigeria and Nigerians with indescribable October hem (Mayhem in October)? How do we categorise them?
Last week I quipped that Coro was forced to take the backseat given the enormity of the EndSARS protests, riots and the aftermath. However, Coro was not, and is NOT down and out, because it has continued to show pepper to humanity. Mysteriously, it is only in Nigeria and indeed Africa that people readily tell you to ‘forget that thing’. On 25/10/20, I attended a meeting of Samuel Ekunola Residents Association to deliberate on the death of our Chairman, Mr Godfrey Okorie. I was the only ‘masked’ person there and one of my friends told me, seriously: Doc, remove that thing; it is not necessary! Even in Nigeria, the thing is still on prowl but we are pretending and living in denial. On 2/11/20, Nigeria had only 72 active cases. Wonderful one might say. But nationwide, we conducted only 2090 tests for that day. In effect, we do not see Coro because we are not looking for it!
Across the world, the spike is becoming alarming and countries are taking desperate measures. On 1/11/20, the US recorded almost 100,000 new cases, its highest daily figure since the advent of Coro. Its 7-day average as at 25/10/20 was 68700 while Marc Short, the Vice President’s Chief of Staff led a horde of Whitehouse staff into the Coro-positive territory. Trump’s response to all this was to accuse Doctors of manipulating Coro figures for personal gains! The UK, France and Belgium are now on lockdown and Italy has re-closed theatres and gyms. The pandemic is reported as very serious in Germany and out of control in Spain. The Presidents of Poland Andrzej Duda Ramaphosa of South Africa, Tebboune of Algeria and Ahmad Tabbouleh of CAF (Yes; he is a President!) are all on quarantine. Enforcing face-masking is still a tall order as two sisters, Jessica and Jayla Hill, were recently arrested in Chicago, for wickedly stabbing a security guard for insisting that they wore face masks and used the hand sanitizer.
One causative factor in this Coro recent resurgence is the lowering of guards by people. In Nigeria, people have gone back to the old normal while in Long Island, carefree wedding and birthday parties had left 56 ‘Coronised’ and 300 quarantined. It is speculated that onset of the cold, dry weather, is also a critical factor and naturally we shall soon experience such in Nigeria. As Joe Biden was promising a free vaccine for all, research by Imperial College, with a sample of 360,000 has revealed that Coro vaccines, when available, may be needed twice yearly because the efficacy lasts only a few months.
READ ALSO: Third quarter earnings show companies surmount Covid-19 headwinds
Coro-based criminal entrepreneurship is still trending as Buba Galadima revealed that some government officials came to his office to market the ‘not for sale’ palliatives. This practice has been confirmed as some palliatives for Benue were found in Kano markets, which pails into insignificance when compared with the report that some CA-COVID palliatives were sold at the African Market in London, having been imported into UK Chadha Oriental Company. There is also a fake N3m Coro grant being offered to Nigerians, against which the Government has warned everybody. International tourism is down by 70 percent; while S&P500 has been hard hit by the resurgence. My word for today is: let us avoid premature celebrations and behave cautiously because taking precaution is not an act of cowardice!
Other matters: EndSARS; A taxonomy Nigerian looters, rioters and arsonists
There is an interface between war against Coro (SARS1) and war against SARS2. One of the key features of End-SARS riots and looting was the invasion of palliative warehouses across the land by angry mobs who believed that the Governments and politicians were hoarding the palliatives. Beyond those who looted with trucks, I dare say that the poor have taken what belonged to them, saving the government from logistic and administrative stress. A Lagos lawmaker, who denigrated the EndSARS youths is also alleged to have used the palliatives, meant for the poor as her birthday presents! Sadly, it has been rumoured that one Dr Val, who provided free Medicare to EndSARS victims had died of the dreaded disease. On the other side, the Lagos International Trade Fair has been rescheduled due to the EndSARS riots.
So, who were (are) the looters, rioters and arsonists who afflicted Nigeria and Nigerians with indescribable October hem (Mayhem in October)? How do we categorise them? We must always differentiate the EndSARS Movement and the mindless riots, looting, arsons and bloodletting that followed because people were or claimed to have been provoked or because they decided to exploit the situation for self-gratification.
The wild mobs looted destroyed and burnt private properties including 248 stores and 71 warehouses, private residences, media houses (The Nation and TVC) court premises (including Igbosere high, the oldest court in Nigeria) residences of Politically Exposed Persons, (carting away 350 motorcycles, 400 deep freezers, 350 generators, from Senator Folarins abode), Customs and FRSC offices, (205 security assets destroyed) and Prisons, which started with the White-House in Benin. They desecrated and vandalised the palace of the Oba of Lagos, looting his staff among others, burnt several police posts, murdered some officers (22 officers out of a total of 73 deaths nationwide), carted away some arms and ammunition and released some criminals.
They ransacked and looted any palliative warehouse in sight, with that of Jos attracting the ‘mamothest’ crowd, attacked and looted medical and Covid stores, WHO facilities, government offices and buildings, destroyed Lagos Mass-transit stations, burning and vandalising several busses, looted 110 tractors and other farm implements from North-East Commodity Association Warehouse in Yola, carted away expired drugs from NAFDAC facilities and grains treated for planting and vandalised, electricity infrastructure( EEDC being the most affected), rice mills and banks.
It appeared Calabar was a bad case (beyond Lagos which usually took first in everything) where they demanded a fee of 15m from, Cross River Basin Development authority failing which they destroyed and burnt offices, guest houses, 34 vehicles and factories. They destroyed the Cross-River State Garment factory, which made the free facemask for all of them, the Calabar International Conference Centre and other factories in town. Somebody looted the entire Jalingo town while another looted the Ekiti State House of Assembly.
Estimates of public and private losses are all over the place (and I believe some people estimated in a hurry), including Lagos N1trn, Plateau, N75bn, Cross-River, N250bn and Apo traders, N2bn. A lot of the looted items have been recovered including about 78 tractors while a lot of the looters have been arrested, including an 11-year-old lad who looted and adorned a police uniform and declared himself the IGP. It was really bad. It is the kind of incident to which our people say Ozoemena: May it never happen again! How do we categorise those who did this to their country and their fellow countrymen? Next week
