By Frank Ulom
Hoodlums have set ablaze West African Examination Council, WAEC’s office on fire in Calabar, Cross River State.
The incident, THE PARADISE NEWS reports happened today, Saturday, October 24, 2020, in the late morning hours of the day as other places were also touched.
The other places include National Identity Management Commission, NIMC office, and Former Governor Donald Duke Daughter’s Hotel (Nella Gardens), which share fences with WAEC, along Murtala Mohammed Highway, Calabar Municipality local government area of Cross River State.
Our Reporter also learnt that the National Television Authority, NTA Calabar was also affected, as hoodlums ransacked the TV station.
“Currently, as I am talking to you, WAEC office on the highway is on fire. The office is being burnt by hoodlums. NIMC office and Nella’s Garden were also affected. The fire is escalating through the buildings along that line. NTA is also affected and hoodlums are destroying the office”, an eyewitness who passed the area at about 11:35am told PARADISE NEWS.
On Friday night, Independence National Electoral Commission, INEC office at Marian Road, closed to Fire Service office was set ablaze and the building completely razed down.
The trouble started on Friday, October 23, 2020 when residents discovered a warehouse loaded with COVID-19 Palliatives at CROSPIL Warehouse, Bishop Moynagh Avenue, State Housing Estate, Calabar.
Ever since then, SEMA Warehouse at Barracks Road, Ministry of Works Warehouse at Ekorinim II, Garment Factory warehouse at Goodluck Ebele Jonathan bypass, and several others have been attacked and looted.
Businesses such as Cold Stone creamery, Calabar Discount Mall harbouring Value Market Store, Calabar Mall harbouring SPAR Supermarket, Boulevard Joint at Etta Agbor, First Bank at 8 Miles, Watt Market, World Health Organisation (WHO) office, Calabar Municipality and Calabar South Area Council Secretariats, and other places have been affected.
Meanwhile, the governor of Cross River State, Sen. Ben Ayade on a statewide broadcast today (Saturday), said the #EndSARS protest has been hijacked.
According to the governor, “on the issue of palliatives being kept in warehouses, every state will have palliatives in their warehouse. Let me thank and acknowledge CACOVID for the massive supply of all these palliatives. Note that as you empty your stock, they restock. This keeps coming for Cross River State. Our last receipt was on October 12th, just last week. We were also told clearly that they (CACOVID) wanted to do a press briefing when they are handing over the palliatives. So there was a directive that this last stock Cross River got should not be shared until they come. The weigh bill is available and it has been released for all to see. It shows that the stock arrived on the 12th of October, 2020. Unfortunately by then this tension had started building up and we were already waiting on them to come. I also want to recall that we do the distribution of palliatives in Cross River State in a sequence.
“We started with traditional rulers and churches, then we moved to local government by local government via senatorial districts. We had done distributions in the northern senatorial district and in the central senatorial district. The next batch of distribution was to be for the southern senatorial district. So the stock in question is for distribution in the southern senatorial district. As can be seen in a lot of videos on social media and Cross River Broadcasting Corporation, each time we distribute, we target widows , we target the aged, we target people who do not have money, people who cannot work. We target those who can fish no more, those who can no longer fish because they are aged and do not have loved ones .
“If you watch the videos of our distribution, it is systematic. It is through churches and churches target the vulnerable and so as a young man who is 18, 20, 25, remember that the food you are picking belongs to our aged parents, a widow somewhere. There is hunger in the land and I know this very well. That is why our emphasis had been on mass employment, recruitment, salary payment, pension payment and creating jobs and focusing more on appointments. Today, we have over 6000 political appointees. I do not need that much number of appointees. So it is for food on the table. It may not have reached you but somebody somewhere may have been reached. We have just approved employment for another 20000 people and have made it very clear this should not be for politicians. I believe that in the course of time you will see the sincerity of my intentions”.
