Mob loots Kano Mall ahead of alleged planned demolition

A mob invaded and looted a Bureau De Change mall in Kano on Sunday in anticipation of an alleged plan by the state government to demolish the building.

Shops in the mall located inside the premises of the former Triumph Publishing Company in Fagge Local Government Area were sold to private individuals by the immediate past administration of Abdullahi Ganduje.

PREMIUM TIMES witnessed how the mob vandalised the building and carted away valuables before the police briefly dispersed the rampaging looters. However, the police later became overwhelmed, leaving the mob to continue vandalising and looting the complex.

On Sunday, our reporter observed how shop owners in properties sold by the Ganduje administration were evacuating their belongings for fear that the government may demolish the structures overnight in the ongoing demolition exercise by the new administration.

Between Saturday and Sunday, the state government demolished at least three properties it claimed were illegally sold by the immediate past administration.

The police commissioner of the state, Muhammed Gumel, supervised the demolition.

On Saturday, a three-storey building with 90 shops on a race course at the Nasarawa GRA was demolished.

On Sunday, the government also demolished Daula Hotel, a three-star hotel reconstructed by the Ganduje administration under a Private Public Partnership arrangement.

The government also demolished another structure, at Hajj Camp, sold to private individuals by the immediate past administration of the state.