MAIDUGURI, Nigeria

A state in northeastern Nigeria has imposed a curfew to stop the looting of food warehouses in its capital, an official said Sunday.

Speaking on a live program on local television, Kaletapwa Farauta, the deputy governor of Adamawa State, said dozens of youths broke into four government warehouses in Yola and Numan, a nearby town, and carted away tons of food items.

She acknowledged that many Nigerians are hungry and facing hardship due to the high cost of living but condemned the looting.

Humwashi Wonosikou, a spokesman for Adamawa State Governor Ahmadu Umaru Fintiri, said the curfew followed the dangerous dimension the activities of the hoodlums had assumed as the youths started looting other shops and businesses in the capital

“With the curfew imposed, there will be no movement throughout the state,” he announced.

Some residents told Anadolu that five people alleged to have looted some shops in the uprising that ensued were killed by a mob. The police could not immediately confirm this.

The cost of food, medicine, transport and living have risen sharply in the two months since President Bola Tinubu scrapped a popular but fuel subsidy, leading to an increase in prices of petrol.