A truck loaded with food items meant for Ramadan ‘Iftar’ distribution in northern Nigeria was hijacked and looted in Gombe State, the police have confirmed.
The consignment, donated by Seyi Tinubu, son of President Bola Tinubu, contained cartons of oil and sugar meant for fasting Muslims.
However, the distribution turned chaotic after residents panicked upon seeing the initial offloading at the All Progressives Congress (APC) secretariat and questioned where the remaining items were being taken.
Spokesperson of the Gombe State Police Command, DSP Buhari Abdullahi, told Arewa PUNCH on Monday that the truck was attacked due to a lack of security presence.
“The truck was carrying foodstuffs for Iftar distribution across northern Nigeria. Unfortunately, there was no security involved until the situation escalated, and we observed that something was happening,” Abdullahi said.
According to him, the truck driver had successfully offloaded about 90 percent of the items at the APC secretariat before the vehicle was intercepted on the road by a mob.
“We invited the truck driver, and he confirmed that the remaining items were still meant for distribution in Gombe State. Unfortunately, people panicked after seeing the earlier offloading and hijacked the vehicle to seize the remaining foodstuffs,” he added.
The police spokesperson stressed the importance of engaging security personnel in such distributions to prevent similar incidents.
“When distributing large quantities of food or palliatives, security officers should be involved for crowd management. Unfortunately, no one informed the police until the truck was hijacked,” Abdullahi noted.
Reacting to the looting, a governance advocate, Bulus Adamu, attributed the incident to rising hunger and economic hardship, urging philanthropists to find sustainable ways to support Nigerians.
“The people are desperate and hungry. The government must do more to support the youth. Philanthropists should focus on long-term solutions like job creation instead of exposing people to risks,” Adamu said.
While no arrests have been confirmed, the police assured that measures would be taken to prevent such occurrences in future distributions.
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