The Coalition Against COVID-19 (CACOVID) has reacted to the looting of palliatives in different states.
CACOVID is a body of private sector players comprising business moguls and organisations.
Their financial contributions were used to purchase tonnes of food items for presentation to the poor and vulnerable population.
Amid accusations of hoarding, state governors said they never intended to hide the supplies from the people.
In its statement signed by Osita Nwanisobi, CACOVID said the items were meant for 2 million vulnerable families in the 774 local government areas in Nigeria.
It explained that the large scale of the nationwide food programme and timing of the orders requested directly from manufacturers coincided with the lockdowns.
The coalition noted that limited movement across the country delayed the procurement and distribution exercise.
It advised those involved in the destruction of public and private property to desist and allow states proceed with peaceful and fair distribution of items.
“Over the past few months, the private sector, through CACOVID has been working with governors, the FCT Minister, and the Nigerian Governors’ Forum (NGF) to procure, deliver, and distribute these food relief items to almost 2 million most vulnerable families (over 10 million Nigerians) across the 774 local government areas of the country, as part of the private sector’s support towards the national response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
“The sheer scale of this nationwide food programme and the timing of the orders and deliveries, which coincided with the lockdowns and reduced movement across the country, compelled CACOVID to roll out distribution in a staggered manner.
“The very large size of the order and the production cycle required to meet the demand caused delays in delivering the food items to the states in an expeditious manner; hence, the resultant delay in delivery of the food palliatives by the state governors’, the statement read.
CACOVID expressed concern that intended beneficiaries are at risk of not getting the items due to the raids on warehouses
The donors sued for peace in all states and appealed to citizens to ignore unauthorised information regarding the issue.
