By Dayo Omoogun
Worried by the spate of looting going on around the country and the attendant breakdown of law and order which in some cases
has culminated in deaths, the Private Sector-led Coalition Against COVID-19, CACOVID, has decided to step in and make some clarifications with a view to dousing the growing tension in the country.
The body explained that in order to avoid market price distortions, it decided to purchase directly from the manufacturers and that the huge size of the purchase, the production cycle and the timing during the lockdown with its restrictions, are the factors responsible for the late delivery to the States which resulted in the perceived hoarding currently being touted in the public space.
The Coalition revealed that its target was to reach 2 million families with a package of 10kg bag of rice, 5 kg bag of garri or semo or maize flour, one carton of pasta, two cartons of noodles, 5kg of sugar, and 1 kg of salt each.
While expressing deep concern about recent events, the Coalition has urged “those involved in the wanton destruction of public and private property to immediately desist from these raids, in order to allow the States to proceed with peaceful and fair distribution of these palliatives to the neediest and most vulnerable in our country.”
“We are aware that official flag-off and handover of the palliatives have taken place in 28 states and the FCT and state governments have been distributing at various paces. As of today, October 26, 2020, some states have confirmed the completion of their distribution while others were in the process of proceeding with the distribution before these looting took place.
“By these looting incidents it, therefore, meant that some intended beneficiaries had been deprived benefitting from CACOVID’s good intentions.”
It lamented that many states “including states that have concluded the distribution of their allocations are seeing their warehouses and other premises being raided.”
It went further to clarify that “not every warehouse in Nigeria that contains palliatives is affiliated with the CACOVID donation”.
It, therefore, appealed for calm to allow States to proceed with their distribution peacefully, urging all Nigerians to be their brothers and sisters keepers.
The statement signed by Osita Nwanisobi, the Acting Director of Corporate Communication of the Central Bank of Nigeria also disclosed that the audit of its income and expenditure by the external auditors, KPMG Professional Services, is nearing completion and promised to make it public along with a comprehensive report of its entire activities.