It started at the Oba Palace in Lagos Island, and almost spontaneously, escalated to other parts of the country. The discovery of warehouses filled with CACOVID palliatives has spurred hoodlums into ultimate search for where governments are hiding foods.

Since Wednesday, Nigerians have been seen on tape looting food items from many warehouses across the country. From the south to the north, it has become a looting movement extended to private properties.

In a country where 40 percent of over 200 million of its people live below the poverty line, many believe that hunger is behind the push. It therefore results in the question: Why did politicians hoard palliatives meant to be distributed during the COVID-19 lockdown?

As more videos of uncovered palliative-filled warehouses emerge, the governments and people in position have tried to answer the question.

The Lagos State Government said the palliatives were meant for distribution to the indigent. The statement signed on Thursday by Abisola Olusanya Acting Commissioner, Agriculture Lagos State, said the provision was meant for the South West, and Lagos had repackaged its share of the consignment and was distributing it before the protests halted activities in the State.

“The distribution was on-going but had to be halted due to protests, before the invasion of the warehouse today,” the statement said.

A member of Lagos State House of Assembly, representing Ikorodu Constituency, Sanai Agunbiade aka SOB, whose property was invaded by irate youths who discovered and looted the CACOVID palliatives, said he intended to distribute them on his birthday.

“For my birthday on 25th October 2020, I have sent out, through my Media Team, notice of my intention to give support to 50 widows who have already been nominated by different groups in a programme christened Widows Mite for Widows and also distribute to some vulnerable and indigent individuals across the three local councils of my constituency, some palliative materials donated by the state and federal governments, as well as myself,” he said.

While many others are yet to give reasons why they are hoarding the palliatives, Nigerians believe it’s nothing short of wickedness for those in position of authority to keep the provisions while people were starving during the lockdown.

“The pressure we were all put through this COVID-19 period. We all had to carry so much burden. Many families couldn’t feed and these beasts in human clothing decided to hide palliative for the poor. What the freaking hell!” activist Aisha Yesufu wrote on Twitter, after sharing an SOS message she received from a starving family during the lockdown.

In March, the Nigerian government announced coronavirus lockdown for the country’s key cities – Lagos and Abuja. And as part of measures to keep the people at home, the government announced a plan to distribute food provisions, as many Nigerians, especially in Lagos, live on their daily earnings.

Eventually, the period of the lockdown was extended, and to other cities in the country. And what followed were complaints of starvation, that many were caught defying the restrictions going on their various businesses. “Hunger virus is more dangerous than coronavirus” became a popular mantra as people break the lockdown rules to look for food.

In Lagos, there were attempts by the government to share food items for the people; a number of houses and residents were taken in many of the local government areas. However, what was distributed greatly fell short of the needs.

The Human & Environmental Development Agenda (HEDA) and other anti-corruption organizations that monitored the distribution of the palliatives said what was given to some estates was actually what was meant for an individual.

The CACOVID Donation

In late September, Private sector-led Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID-19) supplied Lagos State with food items worth over N1.4 billion, as part of its plan to feed over 1.7 million households, especially the indigent and elderly, across 774 local governments in the country, to alleviate the effects of the pandemic.

It was up to states to distribute the food palliatives through Local Governments. Olusanya said then that 50,000 food supplies had been repackaged and would be distributed in a couple of days.

“Under the administration of Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, we have taken the pains to get bags marked, to print on them the Lagos State logo, the CACOVID logo and to put these items in each pack, such that we have transparency across board,” she said.

The coalition said the food provision would cover 107,564 households in Lagos State. But the distribution was yet to happen before the #EndSARS protest began. Following the crisis that ensued, the warehouses holding the palliatives were discovered and plundered by hoodlums.

While there is outrage that governments in Nigeria are hoarding food in time of starvation, the time frame shows that the food palliatives were received months after the lockdown was lifted. And the State governments appear to be fulfilling the wish of CACOVID, which is streamlined toward the most vulnerable in the states.

The news making waves right now is the discovery of warehouses, where COVID-19 palliatives were stored by the state governments. The first time I saw the video of the Lagos warehouse, I was like, “It is not possible”. I told the person that sent the video to me that there is confusion all over the country and that people are making use of it. I also told her that people’s private businesses are being looted in different parts of the country and that it is possible that the video was from one of them. Well, the response I got for my doubt was more videos.

Ok, I actually saw sacks of food with “Ca-COVID” written on them, but I didn’t believe that the government would sponsor the purchase of food items and then store them to waste. I had always thought that the huge amount of money released for the COVID-19 palliatives were never utilised. Who would have thought that these food items were stored in big warehouses instead of being distributed to the needy? Who would have believed that the government even spent the money when it was certain that the items purchased won’t reach those they were meant for? I mean, why would they bother buying those items in the first place?

Honestly, Nigeria is a stage and many of us are the actors. Some things that happen here do not make sense. If you start analysing why those food items were left to rot instead of sharing them, you will get confused. If you start wondering why the items were bought and abandoned when the officials would have diverted the funds, you will be stuck halfway. If you begin to ask yourself if the officials planned to sell the food items, you might make mistakes. A lot of things don’t add up.

But looking at what I saw in those warehouses, it is now obvious to me that the federal government actually released funds for the relief materials. It is now obvious that the Federal Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs actually sent palliatives to all the states during the pandemic. It is now obvious that our problems do not only come from the federal government but also from states and local governments. This doesn’t mean that I am exonerating the FG in this case because they should have demanded for the description of how the items were shared. When we raised our voices to accuse them as giving “audio palliatives”, they should have asked for the list of the beneficiaries. They should have told us who to hold accountable. They should have shown evidence that they handed over these materials to our governors and that our local government chairmen are the ones that will ensure that we received those materials. But no, they went mute and ignored us. And like other government things, this one too was allowed to spoil.

But, from what I am seeing, almost every state in the federation has reports of looted COVID-19 palliatives. I mean, news keeps coming in about states, where people have discovered the warehouses that held the palliatives and it is showing that many states are guilty. What I don’t understand is if these governors had a meeting to keep those things for a particular reason. Maybe they have other intentions for them. For instance, someone said that flood victims in Anambra State were usually given those palliatives and that the governor shared palliatives to the poor every now and then. Does it mean that they reserved those ones in the warehouse for cases of emergency? Are they foreseeing that the country might face another occasion for palliatives? Like I said, a lot of questions are begging for answers.

But then, for the people bringing themselves too low to the extent of looting, be it from the government or from private individuals and organisations, I hope they understand that taking what wasn’t given to them is stealing. I hope they understand that there are people that need those items more than they do and that they should demand that the needy receive what is due them. I hope they understand that by looting, they are directly doing that which they speak against. I hope they understand that their action just revealed that they would do the same thing the politicians do if they were given the opportunity. I hope they will come to believe me if I say that “We are all guilty of what our society has become.”