ICPC investigates sources of looted palliative materials

The Independent Corrupt Practices and other Related Offences Commission (ICPC) says it is set to commence investigations into the sources of palliative items that have been looted across Nigeria.

Since a warehouse used to store COVID-19 palliatives meant for distribution was discovered and looted in Lagos last week, similar discoveries have been made in a handful of other states across the country.

The properties of politicians and private individuals have similarly been raided and looted by mobs.

The ICPC said in a statement on Tuesday, October 27, 2020 that it had received a lot of public demands to investigate and uncover the rationale behind the storage of the palliative materials meant for the suffering masses.

"ICPC will investigate the sources of goods looted from palliatives warehouses, the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) and private houses to unravel whether or not the properties looted were personally acquired, government procured, CACOVID donated, or are empowerment materials which are part of the constituency projects initiative of the Federal Government," the statement read.

The anti-graft agency also said it will scale up the monitoring of Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) charged with the acquisition and distribution of COVID-19 palliative relief materials and make public its findings in due course.

Many Nigerian states went into lockdown for most of April and May in a bid to contain the spread of COVID-19, causing economic hardship for many, and a need to provide relief for millions of households.

The Nigeria Governors' Forum (NGF) said in a statement earlier on Monday that the materials were not hoarded, noting that some states kept hold of the relief items because they had not fully received everything from the private sector coalition against COVID-19 (CACOVID).

The NGF said some other states also kept on to the materials as a strategic reserve ahead of a projected second wave of COVID-19.

Nigeria has recorded over 62,000 COVID-19 cases, and over 1,100 deaths since February.