Femi Adesina, the Senior Special Adviser to President Muhammadu Buhari on Media and Publicity, has stated that the looters of warehouses across the country were not hungry nor angry but took advantage of the collapsed law and order.

He revealed that the collapse of law and order in the country was as a result of a protracted protest by Nigerian youths.

A series of looting of COVID-19 palliatives from various states’ warehouses and also the destruction of public and private property by angry youths was earlier reported during the #EndSARS Protest.

Speaking on Channels Television’s Sunrise Daily programme, on Thursday, October 29, Adesina said criminality is criminality. According to him, it is just like justifying armed robbery because of poverty.

He said: ''Criminality is criminality. Would it justify armed robbery because the man was poor? Would it justify armed robbery because the man didn’t have money? Just as you cannot justify armed robbery because a man was poor and took a gun to rob another person, you can’t also justify the lootings that are going on. It is pure criminality.”

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The presidential aide also countered Amnesty International’s report on what led to the nationwide looting.

According to Adesina, he stated: “This crowd of people you see going to loot are not necessarily hungry and angry.''

“They are taking advantage of the collapse of law and order that came as a result of protracted protests. Amnesty International is wrong.

“Anarchy has broken loose before even Lekki. The prisons in Benin and Oko had been broken before Lekki; Orile police station had been burnt before Lekki; many policemen had been burnt before Lekki so you cannot say that Lekki precipitated all those things. Look at the timelines. Check when those things happened you’ll see that they had happened before Lekki.

''Amnesty International does not have all the facts. They don’t run this country. They shouldn’t know beyond what they have been told…. certain things, criminal in nature, had happened before Lekki and to say Lekki precipitated it is not quite right.”

Meanwhile, President Muhammadu Buhari has issued a stern warning to the parents and guardians of those who have been continually looting private businesses and government properties under the guise of protest.

He urged parents to warn their wards against destruction and stealing of goods they cannot account for.