Kwara Pledges ₦500m Support To Owners Of Looted Stores

ABDULRAHMAN AbdulRazaq, the Governor of Kwara State has announced a N500 million relief fund to assist business owners whose stores were looted by hoodlums across Ilorin, the state capital on Friday.

This was made known by Rafiu Ajakaye, Chief Press Secretary to the Governor after AbdulRazaq visited various shops and scenes that were looted by the hoodlums.

At Kwara Mall and Agro Mall Saturday evening, the Governor lamented that the incident may bring businesses to their knees, and cause massive loss of jobs and a surge in the poverty rate.

“We are therefore not going to leave the business owners like that. We are setting up a N500 million fund for those that were affected to access,” Ajakaye quoted the Governor as said.

“The application form is live and active on the State Government’s website and can now be filled by interested parties. We are going to get them back as soon as possible.”

Reacting to the claim that the State Government hoarded COVID-19 palliatives, the Governor said the items were not owned by the State Government.

He explained that the foodstuffs stolen at the Cargo Terminal were donated to specific vulnerable households and were being distributed across the state for the private sector-led CACOVID Foundation.

The Governor added that the ones carted away from Agro-Mall were relief materials donated to specific victims of the recent rainstorms and floods in eight local government areas of the state by the Federal Government.

He said that the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) had already distributed the materials to at least four local governments while consignments for the remaining council areas were due for dispatch when the hoodlums struck.

“What happened was barefaced stealing and some people are playing politics with it. This is not the time to play politics,” AbdulRazaq said.

“It is a time for all hands to be on deck. It is not just Kwara they wanted to burn down. They wanted to burn the whole country down. I urge all of us to stand up and resist that.”

“We engaged the #EndSARS youth in Kwara and it worked out for us. They were not violent. They had a five-point agenda which the federal government has agreed to and has started implementing.”

According to him, the State Government has also set up a judicial panel of inquiry to look into the allegation of Police abuse, adding that he had also visited Police barracks to see how the government can improve the welfare of the Police in the state.

“While the hoodlums were looting (on Friday), I was holding a meeting with executives and members of the National Association of Kwara State Students and National Association of Nigeria Students, Kwara axis. It shows students and youths were not part of the looting. Those involved were just hoodlums and thieves.”