Residents of Osogbo, Osun State, have expressed concern after a food vendor in the Odi-Olowo area reportedly disappeared following the collection of advance payments from customers who ordered food items at unusually low prices.
Several customers who visited the business premises on Monday morning to collect their orders reportedly found the shop locked, with the operators nowhere to be found.
A video shared by Osogbo Updates and widely circulated on social media showed a crowd gathered around the premises, with some customers expressing concern over payments made for food packages they had yet to receive.
The development has raised fears among customers who reportedly paid for food items, including rice, cooking oil, spaghetti and semovita, after being attracted by prices significantly lower than prevailing market rates.
According to a resident, the business required customers to make advance payments and return approximately one week later to collect their food packages.
However, customers who returned to the shop on Monday were reportedly unable to reach the operators or obtain the items they had paid for.
Adabanija Sulaiman, a resident who spoke with PREMIUM TIMES but said he was not among the affected customers, disclosed that the incident had caused considerable anxiety, particularly among those who paid substantial amounts.
He added that some of the affected customers were planning a protest to demand the recovery of their money.
Sulaiman said the business attracted a large number of customers because of its unusually low prices, with some reportedly intending to resell the food items at prevailing market rates.
He compared the arrangement to investment schemes in which participants are persuaded to pay relatively small amounts with promises of receiving greater returns.
“It is like those people that will say you should come and invest with small money and get a large amount of money. They’re selling their food stuff at low prices, so, many people have paid for them to buy it at low prices and resell at the normal prices of those products,” he said.
Sulaiman alleged that the customers had lost their money after the operators disappeared.
“Now they have scammed them and run away with their money,” he added.
The circumstances surrounding the reported disappearance remain unclear, including the amount collected from customers, the number of people affected and the whereabouts of the business operators.
Osun police react
Meanwhile, the Osun State Police Command has said it has not received any formal report concerning the incident.
When contacted by PREMIUM TIMES, the command’s spokesperson, Abiodun Ojelabi, said the police were not aware of the reported development.
“We are not aware of such. There’s no report to that effect,” Ojelabi said.
