By Ado Oyeyemi
Scores of residents on Tuesday looted a warehouse belonging to the Global Food Initiative in the Odi-Olowo area of Osogbo, Osun State, following allegations that operators of the cheap food scheme had disappeared with customers’ money.
The incident occurred a day after PUNCH Online reported growing tension among residents who had paid substantial sums to purchase food items at prices reportedly below prevailing market rates.
The residents had gathered at the organisation’s office on Monday, hoping to collect food items for which they had made payments, but were reportedly left stranded after the operators failed to show up.
One of the residents, identified as Mistura, said she paid N300,000 on Wednesday for 11 bags of rice at N27,000 per bag.
She said customers were usually expected to collect their purchases one 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 resident, Olamide, said she paid N1.2m for different food items she intended to use for her stepdaughter’s forthcoming wedding.
According to her, she arrived at the organisation’s office on Monday and met other customers waiting for the operators, who were nowhere to be found.
“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.
On Tuesday, the aggrieved residents again converged on the premises, demanding access to the operators and seeking ways to recover the money they had deposited.
Efforts by the building owner to persuade the crowd to remain calm and allow security agents to identify the operators and explore possible means of recovering the funds failed to pacify the residents.
At about 4pm, some members of the crowd reportedly forced their way into the warehouse and began carting away food items, including bags of rice, noodles and groundnut oil.
The looting continued despite a heavy downpour, while a small number of police officers at the scene struggled to control the crowd.
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Security agents were later said to have fired canisters in an attempt to disperse the residents as the situation remained tense.
