Residents of Osogbo, Osun State, on Tuesday looted a warehouse belonging to the operators of the Global Food Initiative after the organisation allegedly disappeared with money paid for discounted food items.

The incident occurred at the organisation’s Odi-Olowo office, a day after residents who had paid for food products gathered at the premises, waiting for the operators to resume operations.

Several residents had paid substantial sums for food items offered at prices below prevailing market rates.

One resident, identified as Mistura, said she paid N300,000 for 11 bags of rice at N27,000 per bag. She said the same quantity would have cost about N605,000 at the prevailing market price of N55,000 per bag.

Another resident, Olamide, said she paid N1.2m for various food items intended for her stepdaughter’s forthcoming wedding.

Residents reportedly remained at the premises on Tuesday despite pleas from the building owner to allow security operatives to identify the scheme’s operators and explore ways of recovering the money paid by customers.

However, at about 4pm, some people forced their way into the warehouse and began taking food items, including bags of rice, noodles and groundnut oil.

The looting continued despite heavy rainfall, while a small number of police officers struggled to control the crowd.

Security agents reportedly fired canisters to disperse the residents as the situation remained tense.

The development followed an earlier report by PUNCH Online on Monday about growing tension in Osogbo after operators of the cheap food scheme reportedly disappeared, leaving customers who had made payments stranded.