As the harsh economic conditions continue to bite, the average Nigerian, who could not bear the brunt in Bayelsa State, has looked for other means of survival by looting food items and other palliatives in a government-borrowed warehouse in Yenagoa.
Bags of rice and garri, as well as cartons of noodles and bottled water, were stated to be among the relief commodities contributed by concerned Nigerians following the state’s flood crisis in 2022.
The event started at 7:30 p.m., as several people stormed the warehouse located along the Isaac Boro Motorway with pick-up vans and private automobiles to transfer the supplies, most of which had already gone bad.
During the looting, the state administration sent personnel from its security unit, Doo Akpo, to disperse the people and protect the facility.
The state administration voiced astonishment and alarm about the invasion of the privately held warehouse’s premises and called the act unjustified, claiming that the food products were remnants being gathered for disposal since they were no longer fit for human consumption.
The State Emergency Management Agency disclosed on Monday that the event occurred around 7:45 p.m. on Sunday, after the Director-General of BYSEMA, Walamam Igrubia, and several agency officials had left the warehouse premises.
“During the 2022 flood in the state, the agency used the warehouse to store food items,” according to the statement.
“As part of preparations for an impending flood this year, the DG visited the premises, and remnants of food items, notably rice and garri that were no longer fit for consumption, were cleared from the warehouse and placed outside for disposal the following day.”
“The remnants, which were swept from the floor and packed in used bags, contained less than ten bags of rice and garri, as well as some broken oil cans. BySEMA emphasizes that these commodities were not fresh food palliatives and that neither the agency nor the state government stored them.
“Most importantly, these items are unfit for human consumption, and a responsible, caring government like ours would not provide such items as palliatives to Bayelsans. In essence, there were no food items to be looted. Those who took away the inappropriate products are therefore strongly cautioned not to ingest them.”
The BYSEMA further criticized the unidentified individuals who stormed the warehouse premises as well as “the attempt to politicize the incident by opposition elements in the state seeking to score cheap political points from the ugly occurrence.”
It informed the public of its readiness to manage the distribution of palliatives given by the federal government as part of measures to mitigate the consequences of its fuel subsidy withdrawal policy as well as the fallout from this year’s on coming flooding.
