The Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) has commenced the
distribution of food items seized from smugglers.
Wale Adeniyi, comptroller-general of customs, disclosed this
on Thursday during the flag- off of the exercise in Lagos state.
Adeniyi said the federal government has approved the
distribution of the items to ameliorate the economic hardship in the country.
He said over 50 trucks of food items were confiscated by the service and are now being held at the area command of the NCS.
"Our target include artisans, teachers, religious
organisations and other Nigerians within the area of customs operations,
including the border areas," NAN quoted Adeniyi as saying.
"The intention of this distribution is to reach out
directly to members of organisations that have structures, to ensure the
maximum impact of the exercise.
"The effort of the distribution is to ensure robust
security protocol throughout the process as officers will closely monitor the
entire supply chain to prevent any misuse or possible diversion of food items.
"We collaborate with other sister agencies of
government, while customs is the lead agency because the food items are with
us.
"Among us here are the police, DSS, and tomorrow we are
going to have full department of all the sister organisations for proper
monitoring."
The comptroller-general said the National Agency for Food
and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has approved the rice to be
distributed.
He said the rice to be distributed has been repackaged to
25kg in order to reach more Nigerians.
Adeniyi said customs has seized over 20,000 bags of 50kg
parboiled rice, beans, maize, millet and soy beans from smugglers.
He listed other food items intercepted as 2,500 cartons of
963 bags of assorted dried fish, dry pepper, seasoning, salt, cooking oil,
macaroni, sugar and garri.
Adeniyi warned officials against reselling the food items,
adding that anyone caught with the products in their stores would be arrested
and prosecuted.
Click to signup for FREE news updates, latest information and hottest gists everydayNigeria Customs Service Launches Initiative to Alleviate Food Scarcity in Nigeria
— NIGERIA CUSTOMS (@CustomsNG) February 23, 2024
...as CGC Adeniyi Kicks-off Sales of
Seized Food Items in Lagos
The Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi MFR, has expressed commitment to align with President Bola… pic.twitter.com/0r1EXI1B79
Advertise on NigerianEye.com to reach thousands of our daily users
After the distribution of the seized items, what next? Governance is not what we struggle for but you can struggle for political power just to steal in Africa but you cannot give governance because you do not have it. It was easy to say it was your turn, bribed your way to have your bid, now do the job, it was become awa lokan. No, you cannot. When you people were busy creating platforms of insecurity, you thought it was only the poor they will come after? It never occurred to you that one day same criminal you have planted to humiliate and kill the [poor will eventually come after you. Much as we continue being a consuming nation, our problems are just starting.
ReplyDelete