Abuja Looting: UN Envoy Blames Poverty, Hunger For Criminal Activities

An official of the  United Nations Independent International Fact-Finding Mission for Sudan, Joy Ezeilo, has expressed concern that severe hunger and extreme poverty are driving many poor and vulnerable Nigerians into criminal activity.

This was said in a statement released on Monday by Ezeilo, who is also a Senior Advocate of Nigeria and a law professor at the University of Nigeria.

Ezeilo released the statement in response to the recent theft at the Abuja warehouse.

Naija News, had earlier reported that  some Federal Capital Territory citizens robbed a warehouse that supposedly belonged to the National Emergency Management Agency on Sunday.

According to Ezeilo, the looting is a bad omen.

However, she warned Nigerians that theft is still illegal and that anyone caught stealing will be held accountable under our penal laws, notwithstanding the country’s current economic difficulties and dire circumstances.

She said, “It is disheartening to read about the looting of the Abuja warehouse belonging to FCT. The severe hunger and extreme poverty faced by many poor and vulnerable Nigerians can push them towards criminal activities. We should all be aware of this situation.

“I remember a case from 1994 where I defended a 17-year-old orphan girl on appeal. She had been sentenced to three years in prison for stealing cassava from a farm. She was hungry and desperate, yet the magistrate still applied the law.

“However, I pleaded as a Pro bono defence lawyer, then representing the Society for the Welfare of Women Prisoners (SWEWP), for her to be acquitted based on her age, being a first-time offender, and the circumstances that led her to commit the crime.”