A 43-year-old Islamic teacher, Muhammadu Abba, was among 34 suspects paraded at the Katsina police headquarters on Wednesday evening for allegedly looting some shops during the fire disaster at the Katsina Central Market on Monday.
Spokesman for the Katsina Police Command, SP Gambo Isah disclosed that Abba was consequently arrested following the tip-off.
A police source , however, identified the informant as Abba’s wife who allegedly told the police that he had stuffed the looted items under one of the beds in their house.
“This man, Muhammadu Abba is an Islamic teacher. He teaches pupils in the local Islamiyah School. Yet, that did not stop him from looting items during the fire incident at the central market. His wife reported him to the police that he was keeping some looted items under their bed and we arrested him,” he said.
Other suspects arrested for looting were mainly teenagers while the looted items included bales of clothes, household items, and generators, among others.
SP Isah, however, warned residents that whoever had some of the looted items with them should return such to the police or face the consequences if found out.
“We have intelligence information that some of the looted items are still being kept in some houses in the town. We appeal to whoever has information on places where the looted items are being kept, to report to the police. Whoever we find such looted items with should be ready to face the consequences.”
The Police spokesman added that the thirty-four suspects are to be prosecuted after completion of the investigation.
The PUNCH recalls that the Katsina Central Market went up in flames on Monday morning, leading to the burning down of no fewer than one thousand shops and the destruction of billions of naira worth of items.
