Anger boiled over in Osogbo, Osun State, on Tuesday as residents broke into a warehouse belonging to the Global Food Initiative and carted away food items after the operators of the scheme reportedly disappeared.
The incident occurred at the organisation’s facility in the Odi-Olowo area of the state capital, where several customers had gathered to demand the food items they had paid for or recover their money.
The crisis started on Monday when customers who had made advance payments under the scheme arrived at the premises but found the operators absent. The initiative had attracted residents by offering food commodities at prices considerably lower than prevailing market rates.
One of the customers, identified as Mistura, said she paid N300,000 for 11 bags of rice, with each bag sold by the scheme for N27,000.
She explained that customers were expected to collect their purchases about a week after payment, adding that the same quantity of rice would have cost about N605,000 at the prevailing market price of N55,000 per bag.
Another customer, Olamide, said she paid N1.2m for different food items which she planned to use for her stepdaughter’s forthcoming wedding.
“I got here this morning and met a crowd waiting to be attended to, but the operators were nowhere to be found. I was warned, but I never thought they would run away this early. The items I paid for were to be used for my stepdaughter’s wedding ceremony,” she said.
As more customers arrived on Tuesday, tension escalated at the premises, with residents demanding answers over the whereabouts of the operators and the money they had deposited.
The owner of the building reportedly appealed to the aggrieved customers to remain calm and allow security personnel to establish what happened and explore ways of recovering the funds.
The appeal failed to calm the crowd, and at about 4pm, some residents forced their way into the warehouse and began removing food commodities.
Among the items reportedly taken away were bags of rice, noodles and groundnut oil.
The residents continued the action despite a heavy downpour, while a small number of police officers at the scene struggled to contain the crowd.
Security operatives subsequently deployed tear-gas canisters in an attempt to disperse the residents and prevent further looting.
The incident followed the police deployment to the area on Monday after residents raised concerns over the disappearance of the scheme’s operators. The Osun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Ojelabi, had said the deployment was aimed at preventing a breakdown of law and order.
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Ojelabi also confirmed that the police had identified Global Food Initiative as the company collecting advance payments from residents in exchange for subsidised food items, while noting that no formal complaint had initially been lodged by those affected.
As of the time of filing the report, the whereabouts of the operators remained unclear, while security personnel continued efforts to restore order around the warehouse.
