Five Reportedly Shot After ‘Hoodlums’ Unearthed Cash Stashed Away In Benin Warehouse

Five persons reportedly died and many other injured in Benin, the Edo state capital on Saturday after some cash stashed away in a warehouse was discovered by hoodlums who have been combing the state to loot COVID-19 palliatives.

Sources revealed that the victims died in one of the warehouses located along Medical Store Road in the Uselu axis of the state which was vandalised and looted earlier in the day.

BIGPEN reports it was not clear what currency the said monies were stashed in the warehouse but a source said that the cash were stuffed in cartons and gunny bags neatly packed. Other items stuffed in the warehouses along the medical store Road include Generator sets, refrigerators, Fans, cooking gas and medical supplies.

It was gathered that the said monies were discovered Saturday evening after the earlier morning raid of the warehouse for foodstuff by hoodlums. Sources said that when the chaos which the earlier raid on the warehouse caused had died down, some hoodlums came back and started combing the other buildings were the discovery was made.

One of hoodlums apparently shocked by the discovery had screamed, a development which attracted security personnel manning the other side of the warehouse to the scene. The security operatives were said to have fired volumes of shots into the air to disperse the looters but in the process three persons were allegedly hit by bullets and died around the warehouse. Two women were said to have died from stray bullets far away from the warehouse.

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Several others including a young girl and boy were shot reportedly by soldiers but were quickly rushed to undisclosed nearby hospital where they are recuperating. The girl was shot from the back, near her neck ostensibly while trying to make her away from the warehouse.

Some unconfirmed reports also had it that some other persons died from exhaustion resulting from the heat in the warehouse and the ensuing stampede.

The police were yet to make any statement on the incident as of press time but a resident of the area who preferred anonymity confirmed it saying that gunshots have been booming ceaselessly for hours in the area since the discovery.

BIGPEN understands Governor Godwin Obaseki had deployed soldiers, personnel of Department of State Service (DSS) and some few number of Civil Defence personnel to the scene to beef up security around the several warehouses on the route and stop hoodlums from vandalising them.

Some items looted from the warehouse including refrigerators, gas cookers, fans, television sets, medical supplies such as drugs. A source said that in one of the warehouse over 300 refrigerators were stuffed there. Some had tens of hundreds student gas cookers and many more items.