The Kebbi State Government has constituted a 13-member panel to probe the recent looting of a warehouse by residents of Brinin-Kebbi.
The residents were said to have looted hundreds of food items and other supplies during the incident on Saturday.
The committee, headed by the state’s Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Alhaji Shehu Mu’azu, was given five days to investigate the incident and report back, with recommendations on how to forestall a recurrence.
The decision was reached during a State Executive Council meeting presided over by the state’s Deputy Governor, Alhaji Umar Abubakar-Tafida, on Monday.
At the SEC meeting, the government also approved N3.34 billion to subsidise the fares for 3,344 Muslims in the state going to Saudi Arabia on Hajj pilgrimage. The subsidy is to cover the N2 million hike in the Hajj fare for each pilgrim.
Addressing journalists on the outcome of the meeting in Birnin Kebbi, the Commissioner for Information and Culture, Alhaji Yakubu Ahmad, said the gesture was in furtherance of the magnanimity of Governor Nasir Idris to uphold religious values for societal peace and tranquility.
He explained that the amount donated to each pilgrim was designed to facilitate the complete payment of the fares before the closing date.
“Out of about N2 million requested by NAHCON as additional fares, the Kebbi government has offset N1 million for each pilgrim while the remaining balance should be paid by individual pilgrims to complete payment,” he said.
“Pilgrims who have completed payment of the fares would also enjoy the N1 million magnanimity from the government.”
On recent incidents of miscreants breaking into food stores to steal grains, Ahmad announced the setting up of a 13-member committee under the chairmanship of the Commissioner for Agriculture and Natural Resources, Alhaji Shehu Mu’azu, to investigate the incident.
On his part, Mu’azu explained that most of the rice carted away from the warehouse at Bayan-Kara belonged to the Birnin Kebbi Local Government as part of the palliatives distributed by the state government to the 21 local government areas in the state.
He said security operatives succeeded in salvaging more than 2,000 bags of the grains from looters and returned to safekeeping.
“The members of the committee have been given a five-day time frame between now and Friday, to investigate the remote causes of the incident, identify persons or groups involved and advise the government appropriately to guard against a repeat,” the commissioner said.