Angry residents on Tuesday broke into a warehouse operated by the Global Food Initiative in Osogbo, Osun State, and carted away food items after the operators of the discounted food scheme reportedly disappeared.
The incident occurred at the organisation’s facility in the Odi-Olowo area of the state capital, where several residents had earlier paid money for food items offered at prices below prevailing market rates.
Tension had gripped the area since Monday after customers who had made advance payments gathered at the organisation’s office to collect their food but found the operators unavailable.
One of the customers, identified simply as Mistura, said she had paid N300,000 for 11 bags of rice at N27,000 per bag.
According to her, the scheme operated on a pay-first, collect-later arrangement, with customers expected to receive their goods about a week after payment. She said the same quantity of rice would have cost about N605,000 at the prevailing market price.
Another customer, Olamide, said she paid N1.2m for various food items which she intended to use for her stepdaughter’s forthcoming wedding.
She said she became worried after arriving at the premises and finding a crowd 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.
The situation worsened on Tuesday as more customers returned to the premises, demanding either the food items they had paid for or a way of recovering their money.
Despite appeals by the owner of the building for the residents to remain calm while security agents worked to identify the operators and explore ways of recovering the funds, the crowd remained at the premises.
At about 4pm, some of the residents reportedly forced their way into the warehouse and began removing food items, including bags of rice, noodles and groundnut oil.
The looting continued despite heavy rainfall, while police personnel deployed to the area struggled to contain the crowd.
Security operatives were later reported to have used canisters in an attempt to disperse the residents as the situation remained tense.
The development followed Monday’s police intervention after residents raised concerns over the disappearance of the scheme’s operators.
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The Osun State Police Public Relations Officer, Abiodun Ojelabi, had said officers were deployed to prevent a breakdown of law and order and confirmed that the company had been collecting advance payments from residents in return for subsidised food items.
As of the time of filing the report, the operators’ whereabouts remained unclear, while security personnel continued efforts to restore order around the facility.
