Looting of “palliatives”
Many days after the EndSARS protests fizzled out, mobs across the country descended on alleged government stores where COVID-19 palliative items were kept and unleashed an orgy of looting. The mobs claimed that items that Federal Government, private corporations and donor agencies sent to state governments to be shared as relief items were instead kept […]
Many days after the EndSARS protests fizzled out, mobs across the country descended on alleged government stores where COVID-19 palliative items were kept and unleashed an orgy of looting.
The mobs claimed that items that Federal Government, private corporations and donor agencies sent to state governments to be shared as relief items were instead kept in warehouses and were not shared. Mobs in several cities serially identified such stores, not always correctly, and mercilessly looted them.
As was almost inevitable with mob actions, they soon went beyond government palliative stores and looted supermarkets, privately-owned warehouses, houses of politicians and of a prominent traditional ruler, and even a hospital. While the most extensive and most destructive looting of supermarkets and shops took place in Lagos, one of the most shocking episodes took place in Yola, Adamawa State, where mobs attacked a government agricultural depot and made away with several dozen tractors. In Calabar, Cross River State, thugs also vandalized the state’s ultra-modern conference center. It was more of vandalism than looting because most of the facilities had no use other than conferencing, and yet were ripped up and taken away. Private houses were also looted, such as Senator Teslim Folarin’s house in Ibadan, former House Speaker Yakubu Dogara’s house in Jos and Senators Geshom Bassey and Ndoma-Egba’s houses in Calabar.
We condemn in unequivocal terms the looting spree across the country by people variously called “hoodlums” and “thugs.” It totally ruined the idealistic aims of the original peaceful EndSARS protesters. It also threatened to throw away all the gains of the campaign to end police brutality because authorities had to resort to the use of force to combat the looters. There was shooting in several places and an as yet undetermined number of people were hurt or killed in the process.
Despite the odious character of looting and the specter of anarchy that it presented, it succeeded in raising some questions that the authorities are yet to convincingly answer. Why were items meant as palliatives for the pandemic and lockdown kept in stores many months after the lockdown ended and the worst of the pandemic is also behind us? While the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs and Disaster Relief washed its hands off the matter and said it delivered the items to state governments, the latter on their part gave conflicting explanations. Some said they received the items only recently; others said they were waiting for the second wave of pandemic while one state government said the items were for general disaster relief in IDP camps.
We strongly condemn bureaucratic lethargy, political inaction, indecisiveness and upper-class nonchalance that are all portrayed in this matter. Millions of people were crying out for palliatives, and it turned out that hundreds of tons of it were idling away in stores. The private sector-led Coalition Against COVID-19 [CACOVID] tried to help state governments by saying it delivered relief items to them only recently due to supply chain difficulties from the manufacturers. Still, the items should have been shared out as soon as they were delivered because every hour makes a difference to a hungry person.
Right now, police and other security agencies have rounded up hundreds of looters and are set to charge them to court. It is necessary to make an example out of apprehended looters lest many Nigerians come to believe in future that looting is lawful under any guise. The most important lesson however is the one that authorities at all levels must learn. That in order to restore the people’s faith in government and rulers, they must shun their current traits of insensitivity, selfishness, nonchalance and crass incompetence especially where the people’s welfare is concerned.