Tension escalated in Osogbo, Osun State, on Tuesday as residents who had paid money for discounted food items broke into the warehouse of the Global Food Initiative and carted away stored goods.
The incident occurred at the organisation’s office in the Odi-Olowo area, a day after residents had gathered at the premises following the disappearance of the operators of the food scheme.
The operators had reportedly collected money from residents who were promised food items at prices significantly below prevailing market rates but failed to return to the office, leaving several customers stranded.
On Monday, residents who had made payments converged on the office, hoping to collect the items they had purchased or get explanations from the operators.
One of the customers, identified as Mistura, said she paid N300,000 last Wednesday for 11 bags of rice at N27,000 per bag.
She explained that customers were normally expected to receive their orders a week after making payment. At the prevailing market price of N55,000 per bag, the 11 bags would have cost about N605,000.
Another customer, Olamide, said she paid N1.2m for food items she intended 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.
The situation persisted into Tuesday, when more customers returned to the premises, hoping that the operators would resume business or provide an explanation over the money they had collected.
However, tensions rose as the crowd remained at the premises.
The owner of the building reportedly appealed to the residents to remain calm and allow security personnel to identify the operators and determine how the funds paid by customers could be recovered.
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The pleas failed to disperse the crowd.
At about 4pm, some of the residents forced their way into the warehouse where the food items were stored and began taking away bags of rice, noodles and groundnut oil.
The looting continued despite a heavy downpour, while a small number of police officers deployed to the scene struggled to prevent the situation from escalating.
Security agents fired canisters in an attempt to disperse the crowd, but the looting was still ongoing as of the time of filing the report.