Osogbo Residents in Panic as Discount Food Firm Shuts Down, Traps Advance Payments

Panic has gripped Osogbo, the Osun State capital, after a major food distribution company abruptly shut down and disconnected its suppliers’ phone lines, The Sun reported.

The company had drawn widespread patronage by offering rice, cooking oil, spaghetti and semovita at prices well below market rates, on condition that customers paid in advance.

Under the scheme, buyers deposited N25,000 with a promise of collecting a bag of rice two weeks later, a bag that sells for between N55,000 and N60,000 in Osogbo.

The discount scheme drew hundreds of buyers across the city, including local traders who invested heavily in bulk packages to resell at retail prices for profit.

Hundreds of frantic customers gathered at the company’s Odi-Olowo premises on Monday after operations halted without warning. Many outside the locked premises feared their life savings and advance payments were gone for good.