Residents of Osogbo, Osun State, on Tuesday looted a warehouse belonging to the Global Food Initiative after operators of the cheap-food scheme reportedly became unreachable.
The incident occurred at the organisation’s office in the Odi-Olowo area of the state capital, where several residents had earlier paid money for food items to be supplied at prices below prevailing market rates.
The residents had gathered at the premises after the operators reportedly failed to open for business, leaving those who had made payments uncertain about the whereabouts of their food items and funds.
One of the affected residents, Mistura, said she paid N300,000 for 11 bags of rice at N27,000 each, noting that the same quantity 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 which she intended to use for her stepdaughter’s forthcoming wedding.
The situation became tense as the affected residents returned to the premises on Tuesday, demanding access to the operators and their goods. The building owner reportedly appealed to them to remain calm while security personnel worked to identify the operators and explore ways of recovering the money paid.
However, the aggrieved crowd later forced its way into the warehouse at about 4pm and began taking away food items, including bags of rice, noodles and groundnut oil, despite the heavy rainfall.
Police operatives deployed to the scene struggled to contain the crowd, while security agents reportedly fired tear-gas canisters to disperse the looters as the situation remained tense.
