Police Arrest More Suspects Over Warri Shoprite Looting

MORE persons were yesterday arrested over the Friday evening invasion and looting of the Shoprite (Delta Mall) Complex in Effurun, near Warri, Delta State, by armed hoodlums.

The manager of the Delta Mall complex, Mr Shola Oni, said hoodlums armed with dangerous weapons invaded the shopping complex, broke glass doors with axes and other weapons and entered the mall, but that the mall management prevailed on the Navy and mobile police units not to shoot at any of the hoodlums.

When The Guardian visited the mall, it discovered that the phone, computer and furniture shops were forcefully broken into and looted. Also, eateries belonging to Chicken Republic and Kilimanjaro were also looted and ransacked by the irate youths.

It was learnt that personnel from the detective unit of the Delta Police Command made more arrests after one of the hoodlums, who was arrested during the looting made useful confessions.

A statement by the Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), DSP Celestina Kalu, said the Operations Manager of Shoprite Shopping Mall Warri informed the DPO Ekpan Division on phone that some persons invaded the shopping mall, beat, robbed and injured customers and sales personnel.

Based on the report, police patrolmen were quickly mobilised to the scene and arrested one suspect while others are at large.

According to the Police, “Preliminary inquiry revealed that one Henry Baron, the suspended chairman of Uvwie Local Government Council had an altercation with a Naval rating identified as Ma’arafu (surname unknown) in the shopping mall.