New Telegraph

Ogun: Police helpless as hoodlums hijack palliatives’ distribution

Hoodlums yesterday hijacked the distribution of palliatives in Ogun State and carted away the food items. New Telegraph learnt that following the looting spree nationwide, officials of government had moved to distribute the palliatives housed at Ijebu-Ode, Sagamu and Ifo local government areas of the state.

The decision, it was learnt, was a preemptive measure to stop looters from breaking into the warehouses. It was also learnt that the police could not do anything and made no arrest as the hoodlums hijacked the process of distributing the food items. Officials of the local governments who were at distribution centres to share the food items, were overpowered by the hoodlums and took away branded bags of rice, noodles and other items.

A witness said the atmosphere became rowdy and chaotic, as hoodlums took over the process, leaving the officials and security agents helpless. A similar situation played out at Sagamu where the food items were stored at the NYSC Camp.

A video, which went viral, shows looters carting away food items from a building believed to be owned by a religious body. But a youth leader in Sagamu, Kayode Segun Okeowo, told our correspondent that “there was nothing like looting in Sagamu”. He said youths in the local government had got the wind of a plot to storm the palliatives warehouse for possible looting, but the government officials were alerted to avoid a breakdown of law and order.

Okeowo said the government later bowed to pressure to distribute the food items. However, the state Police Public Relations Officer (PPRO), Abimbola Oyeyemi, said the command was aware of the development, but exercised restraint to avoid stampede. He said: “We are aware. But we are trying to be diplomatic about it because we don’t want to cause any stampede. If we are to go to the place to effect arrest, it is going to cause more problems than we can solve. It is not that we are not aware.

“We are equally aware that the local government chairmen directed that those palliatives should be shared. “And in the course of sharing it, people became unruly and rowdy. “What we heard was that they were distributing it and in process, people became unruly. “Our men were there, monitoring the process to make sure that they prevent a breakdown of law and order.”

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