Cost Of Living Sparks Hijacking Of Foodstuff

Cost Of Living Sparks Hijacking Of Foodstuff

By Hussaini Ibrahim Sulaiman

The saga of putting roadblocks to truckloads of foodstuffs from the North to the Southern part originated in Niger State on February 5, 2024, when the residents of Minna, Niger State, trooped out in large numbers to protest the hardship in the country caused by the rising cost of living occasioned by the downturn of the economy. It was said that last Monday irate youths and women blocked the Kpakungu area of Minna to express their grievances over the skyrocketing of the commodities.

A deployment of Police operatives to the scene couldn’t stop the protesters. A statement by the Police Public Relations Officer, Niger State Police Command, Wasiu Abiodun, said the police had to apply a minimum of force to disperse the protesters.

Reacting to the tragedy, barely hours’ aftermath, the state governor, Mohammed Umar Bago, issued an immediate order to ban on mass purchase of foodstuffs in the state’s local markets by traders from outside the state. The governor alleged that the protest was caused by a piece of wrong information claiming that the government was planning to hoard some food palliatives in the state despite the severe hunger were facing.

However, the directive of the governor has led to the outbreak of hijack of trucks with foodstuffs in the state and environs. The residents of Karageba village strategically situated at the edge of the state that links to the River Niger Bridge blocked trucks carrying foodstuffs to the South. A pedestrian, a user of Facebook, said the trucks loaded with Yams, Onions, Pepes and Tomatoes were forced to return to the state.

The Yoruba-speaking man said in the video: “This is Karageba, the last village in Niger State before you join the River Niger Bridge. They are stopping any trucks that are carrying foodstuffs from the North. They’re stopping them – they’re turning them. They don’t allow them to go beyond this village. Even buses that are carrying Pepe are not allowed.

“As you can see, all these trucks are carrying foodstuffs… you can see Yams, Tomatoes, Onions and many more. They said the trucks should turn back to the North or set them ablaze. Only trucks that are carrying fuel are allowed to enter the South” He further recounted that this is Karageba, the last village before you enter Kwara State.

A DailyTrust Newspaper’s report on Thursday revealed that another scenario occurred in Sule, Niger State, where the residents of the polity hijacked trucks loaded with foodstuffs.

Alhassan Abdullahi, a witness, told DailyTrust that many trucks from Abuja and heading for Kaduna were blocked by the hoodlums, who burnt tyres on the road.

He said many bags of assorted foodstuffs, especially rice, were stolen before soldiers arrived at the scene.

“It took the intervention of soldiers who arrived at the scene and started firing gunshots in the air to scare the hoodlums away. But even at that, many of them went away with bags of rice and cartons of spaghetti and other food items.

“We learnt commercial motorcycle riders are also planning a protest. They would have done it since yesterday but we didn’t know what stopped them,” he said.

Likewise, in Dikwa, a town in Borno State, the inhabitants of the community protested the prevailing hunger which raised a serious concern as they threatened to join terrorists in the state.