The disturbing trend of food warehouse looting could usher in anarchy that will be tough for the government to quell, the President of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Gabriel Idahosa, has predicted.
Trucks and warehouses containing food items have been attacked by looters in recent days, causing panic among manufacturers and business people.
In a recent incident, last week, a group of youths seized the opportunity presented by traffic congestion along the Kaduna Road in the Suleja area of Niger State to pilfer food items from stranded trucks.
More alarming was the attack on a warehouse owned by the Agricultural and Rural Development Secretariat of the Federal Capital Territory Administration, situated in the Dei-Dei area of Abuja. During this raid, perpetrators looted rice, grains, and other essential relief items.
In a separate incident on Sunday, another group of hoodlums attempted to raid a private warehouse located in the Idu Industrial Estate, Jabi, Abuja. However, their efforts were thwarted by vigilant soldiers stationed to guard the facility.
However, Idahosa said the attacks can worsen the problems of companies and lead to their shutdown.
Idahosa said, “The chickens are coming home to roost. The government has asked the people to be patient, but the stomach cannot be patient even if the head wants to be patient. In a state of anomy, it will lead to a state of anarchy.
“There is no distinction between public and private in a state of anarchy. When the government allows chaos to happen, chaos does not know whether it is government or private property. When it rains, it doesn’t rain only on government or private property.
“The looters are not concerned whether it is government or private property. They just want food, anything that looks like food, they will go after it. This is why concerned observers have asked the government to look for concrete measures to reduce the state of hunger in the land.’’
The LCCI president further said a concerted effort is required to stop the criminality.
“We have gone beyond the phase of speculation; we are now in the phase of reality. In the last two or three days, these kinds of events have been escalating. It will require concerted efforts to stop the trend,’’ he advised.
Speaking further, Idahosa, noted that many of the major manufacturing firms in the country recorded significant losses in the 2023 financial year and might choose to shut down their businesses and lay off workers in light of the looting of their wares.
He added, “All of them are reporting losses in billions. The smaller companies are also having their own losses. It just doesn’t make it to the front pages of the newspapers.
‘’Last week, we went to meet the CEO (chief executive officer) of one of the largest food and beverage companies in Nigeria and he said that some of his colleagues, who are foreigners, said they were totally confused that they did not know what to do; that they were frustrated. He was just sharing their frustration with us.
“With the present situation, we are not just looking at price hikes alone. They may decide to close down the business and fire all the people.”
