…Cart away bags of rice, noodles, others
For several low income Lagos households, especially those living in the Maza-Maza axis of Amuwo Odofin Local Government Area, Thursday was like bazaar.
It was a day they discovered a massive warehouse stacked to the brim with thousands of bags of rice and cartons of processed food, which ought to have been distributed as palliatives during the COVID-19 lockdown period.
It is not exactly clear how the discovery came about, but residents of the area trooped out in their hundreds and began carting away the food items in the neighbourhood called Monkey Village.
The food items were labelled ‘CACOVID, NOT FOR SALE,’ and included bags of rice, macaroni, spaghetti, salt, garri, sugar and cartons of noodles.
CACOVID (Coalition Against COVID-19), launched in March this year, is a private sector-led organisation established to assist the government in combating the coronavirus disease.
Video clips that have gone viral show excited Lagosians – men, women, youths, kids – excitedly carting away bags and packs of processed food.
While the evacuation was going on, some were riling and cursing the people they described as corrupt elite for concealing the items when the ordinary folks were starving during the lockdown period.
They further alleged that those who concealed the food items had the dubious intention of re-packing them for sale in the coming Yuletide period.