About two weeks ago, protests erupted in some parts of the North, notably Minna, the capital of Niger State, over the wave of hunger, food hyperinflation and hardship. The police arrested and detained many of the protesters (among whom were women). The state’s Governor, Mohammed Bago, later got them released and issued a public apology.

Bago’s government had issued a statement on an earlier protest claiming that the demonstrators were “sponsored”, a terminology that the President of the Senate, Godswill Akpabio, also recently recycled when the upper chamber debated the building tension over mass starvation. Bago also issued a statement ordering the stoppage of trucks carrying food out of the state. Officials were later seen on viral videos turning back food trucks close to the border between the state and Kwara.

Those trucks were in their normal run to Lagos and the SouthWest, their final supply destinations. By so doing, Bago disrupted food supply lines and commerce, thus putting perishable food items in danger of getting spoilt. This action also worsened food inflation in Lagos and environs. The act of government officials stopping the food trucks obviously gave ideas to hoodlums who started to halt trucks to loot their food cargoes.

This is a very dangerous development which is liable to worsen the situation we find ourselves in. If urgent steps are not taken, this criminal act will spread to other areas. People could capitalise on complaints of hunger and start looting not just trucks but also stores, warehouses and malls. We saw enough of this ugly development during the COVID-19 pandemic and post EndSARS protests hijacked by criminals.

We call on all state governments to set up task forces to protect food trucks and storage facilities to prevent total breakdown of law and order. It must be drummed in that the prevailing hunger notwithstanding, looting is still a crime, and those who engage in it must be visited with the full weight of the law. Governments at all levels must quickly reshuffle their priority lists and prioritise food and security at this juncture.

Funds should be committed to ensuring that food is available and affordable to the people. This is the time to subsidise the prices of food. We commend the Lagos State Government under Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu for its strategic plans to take food markets closer to the people at affordable prices. We wait to see it walk its talk. Other states should rise and protect the people from hunger and hardship to prevent anarchy. Otherwise, our already compromised democracy could be threatened. Parents, community and religious leaders should talk to their people, especially the youth, to refrain from any action that could lead to a breakdown of order. If that happens, no one will be safe.