Residents of Kebbi stormed a government warehouse filled with rice intended for relief efforts on Saturday night, overpowering security personnel in the process.
The incident follows similar events in Abuja and Suleja, Niger State, highlighting the growing frustration of Nigerians with government delay in the distribution of the palliatives as the economic hardship bites harder.
The looters also targeted private stores, taking essential food items.
The chairman of the Bayan Kara Market Food Vendors Association, Muhammadu Gwadangwaji, expressed his dismay at the looting of his members’ shops in addition to the government warehouse. Unquantifiable sacks of food items were stolen, he said.
Gwadangwaji lamented that the presence of armed police and soldiers didn’t stop the looting, as they returned tear gas to the police, who fired at them and continued with the looting.
The Kebbi State Governor’s spokesperson, Ahmed Idris, described the event as “unfortunate” and clarified that the looted rice was purchased by the government for distribution to residents.
According to Idris, “The hoodlums had earlier attacked the consignment of food items that was brought to the state for distribution to the people by Dangote before going to the government warehouse to loot it.”
“Such incident has never happened in Kebbi before. The food items they looted are part of the foodstuffs purchased by the state government for distribution to people of the state.”
He added, “Government has procured and distributed assorted grains worth over N5 billion in over 200 trucks. It is unfortunate those who broke into the warehouse had gone there to steal what belongs to people of the state.”
The official further stated that measures are being implemented to improve security at warehouses to prevent future occurrences.
While the exact cause remains unclear, the economic hardship many Nigerians face likely contributed to the desperation that fueled the looting.
The Kebbi State government has yet to announce if there will be an investigation or plans to expedite the distribution of the palliatives.
Ezinwanne Onwuka, senior staff reporter and columnist with WAP is a Nigerian-based writer and content developer. She holds a Bachelor of Arts degree in Philosophy from the prestigious University of Nigeria, Nsukka. Her interests include reading, writing, researching and graphic designing.
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