By Adedapo Adesanya
As hardships spurred by the rising cost of food, fuel, and other basic needs bite harder, some residents of the Nigerian capital, Abuja, broke into a government warehouse in the city to loot food items on Sunday morning.
According to reports, the incident, which involved a warehouse belonging to the National Emergency Management Agency of Nigeria (NEMA), happened around 7 am and continued for about two hours.
Amid the current economic realities in the country, there has been a spate of breaks in and looting of both private and public storage units by residents.
The warehouse looted by the Abuja residents today was also reportedly looted during the COVID-19 crisis in 2020.
The police were later deployed to the scene of the raided warehouse, but a considerable number of items had already been looted.
The prices of goods and services have increased by over 200 per cent without a corresponding increase in income since the current administration of President Bola Tinubu ascended office less than a year ago.
The cost of living crisis was caused by the removal of subsidies on petrol and the floating of the Naira, policies justified by the President on numerous occasions as necessary for the growth of the economy.
Speaking recently at the inauguration of the Lagos Red Line rail project, he said there is no going back on the reforms embarked upon by his government that have led to the hike of essential goods and services.
“But this revolution that has started, this reform that is ongoing, we are not looking back. The engineering, the construction, the affirmation of our pledge to be loyal to our country. There is one thing I know is that there is a very bright light at the end of the tunnel,” he said.
Nigeria’s inflation neared 30 per cent in January 2024 as it surged by 29.90 per cent, marking a significant increase from the 28.92 per cent recorded in the preceding month. This increment shows a heightened rise in the average price level for January 2024 relative to the increase noted in December 2023, highlighting the growing inflationary pressures within the nation’s economy.
The key drivers of this inflationary pressure include notable price hikes in essential food commodities such as bread and cereals, potatoes, yams and other tubers, oils and fats, fish, meat, and fruits, as well as coffee, tea, and cocoa.
