Residents of Osogbo, the Osun State capital, on Tuesday braved heavy rainfall and warning shots from police officers to loot a warehouse allegedly linked to a food investment scheme.
The looting followed a standoff that began a day earlier, when investors in the scheme operated by Global Food Initiative reportedly found the company’s office shut on Monday morning. Unable to access their investments, they gathered at the premises to demand their food supplies.
Some of the investors returned to the office and warehouse as early as 8am on Tuesday, hoping to meet the operators. They instead met personnel of the Amotekun Corps, who had been deployed to maintain order. The aggrieved investors stayed at the location until about 4pm, when the Amotekun operatives withdrew.
Trouble started in the evening as heavy rain set in. Some hoodlums reportedly broke into the warehouse and threw open the doors, allowing others to go in and carry away items.
Residents of Egbetedo, Odi-Olowo, Fagbewesa, Asubiaro and neighbouring communities were said to have rushed to the facility. Some left with 50kg bags of rice, 50-litre containers of vegetable oil, spaghetti, semovita, beverages and other food items.
Police operatives who arrived at the scene fired shots into the air to disperse the crowd, but this did not immediately halt the looting. More people reportedly joined the rush.
A female investor, identified only as Nike, was seen carrying a 50-litre container of vegetable oil. She said she had invested over N300,000 in the scheme and was trying to recover part of her money through the items.
“I can only struggle to pick this. Some hoodlums who never invested in the scheme were stealing bags of rice as well as vegetable oil, and I can’t just watch my money disappear like that,” she said.
Meanwhile, some hoodlums allegedly exploited the situation to rob investors who had managed to carry items out of the warehouse. They reportedly threatened some of the investors with axes and cutlasses and forced them to hand over what they had taken.
The police intervention was said to have prevented the situation from degenerating into a wider crisis, although the warehouse was eventually emptied of its contents.
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