The palliatives looting scandal

Five years ago, a Civil Defense Officer friend of mine guarding a facility at Apo Mechanic Village belonging to Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), called me and secretly allowed me inside the premises to see the drugs, hospital equipment, syringes, bandages, wasting there. It was kept there for years just wasting. When I got there […]

Five years ago, a Civil Defense Officer friend of mine guarding a facility at Apo Mechanic Village belonging to Abuja Municipal Area Council (AMAC), called me and secretly allowed me inside the premises to see the drugs, hospital equipment, syringes, bandages, wasting there. It was kept there for years just wasting. When I got there to do a video, some of the drugs had expired. These drugs and equipment can fit in into two Dangote trailers or even more. That’s how much was stored in the AMAC facility at Apo, Abuja. After I did a report on it, the drugs and hospital equipment were quickly carted away by the authority.

The #EndSARS protest climaxed with Nigerians in many states searching for the COVID-19 palliatives stored in large warehouses and bursting them and taking the items for themselves. After all the palliatives were meant for them. Most of these Nigerians came out showing their faces on cameras addressing the media daring it all, accusing the government of hoarding the palliatives for themselves. Now we are left with state governments trying to do public relations to defend themselves and why the palliatives were stored. But nobody believes them.

The story on the streets is that these government officials intended to use the COVID- 19 palliatives for future campaigns.

Even those who earlier didn’t support the #EndSARS protest are now awed at the palliatives they are seeing from state to state being carted away by Nigerians in large warehouses.

What the state governments would find hard to do now is to convince anyone that they have the intention of sharing the  palliatives they stored to the masses.

Whatever explanations these state governments give on hoarding of these palliatives, the people who have made up their minds that politicians want to steal it would not believe them. That’s the relationship between the Nigerian government and the Nigerian people.

George Onmonya Daniel.