Customs intercepts 15 trucks of smuggled foods in Sokoto
The Nigeria Customs Service, on Sunday, declared that it had intercepted 15 trailers that were fully loaded with food items and were heading out of the country through the Sokoto State border.
It said the trailers were stopped and the food items were returned to Nigeria, adding that this was part of measures to stabilise the prices of food items across the country in line with the mandate of the Federal Government.
On Friday, The PUNCH reported that the Federal Government had set up a committee comprising the National Security Adviser, the Director-General of the Department of State Services, and the Inspector-General of Police to clamp down on traders hoarding grains.
The report also stated that the government had ruled out the importation of food as part of strategies to address the high costs of foodstuffs and the economic hardship troubling the country.
It stated that this formed part of the resolutions reached at Thursday’s emergency meeting between President Bola Tinubu, Vice President Kashim Shettima, and state governors at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja.
When contacted by our correspondent on Sunday to confirm whether the service had clamped down on food hoarders or those trying to move food out of Nigeria, the National Public Relations Officer, who is a Chief Superintendent of Customs, Abdullahi Maiwada, stated that interceptions had been made.
He said, “Some items were brought back at Sokoto, but I don’t have the details of the grains or the food items in question. These are some of the areas being worked on to avert such movement of food items out of the country.
“So there are interceptions, but I don’t have the actual record of that. However, this time around, our interceptions are not aimed at seizing the food items, rather to send them back and to be consumed locally so that the prices of food items will stabilise.
“I think we are going to issue a more detailed statement about this tomorrow (Monday) on what we are doing based on our own core mandate and how we can also contribute to the stability of food prices, among other things.”
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When probed further to speak on the quantity of items intercepted, Maiwada replied, “There were in very large quantities, I think about five trailers or so. I don’t have the exact records, but I’m sure there were interceptions.”
Recall that while assessing the government’s action to tackle the hardship in the country, the All Farmers Association of Nigeria and the organised private had supported the decision of the President and the governors not to adopt importation as a solution to the biting food crisis facing the nation.
They also backed the planned action against hoarders as the Nigeria Customs Service vowed to stop smuggling of food out of the country.
The prices of staples have gone up in recent times with the National Bureau of Statistics listing the 2023 December food inflation at 33.93 percent, up from 23.75 percent in December 2022.
Reports say the prices of staples like rice, beans, oils, plantain, grains, fish, poultry, and meat have surged by 50 per cent and this has triggered protests against the harsh development across the country.
Data obtained from the consumer price index reports by the NBS indicated Nigeria spent N1.47tn on importing food and beverages in the first six months of 2023.
AFAN President, Kabir Ibrahim, had told our correspondent that the decision of the government to order food producers to release their products to the market would help check the continued rise in the prices of food items.
“I encourage the security agencies to move in with some other government officials and ask people to open their stores to sell what they have at the prevailing prices. The commodities should be sold at the prevailing prices.
“Nobody is asking them to bring down their prices, for once they sell at the prevailing prices they will not lose anything. But hoarding is not allowed anywhere in the world. You cannot keep what is needed and make them scarce.
“So the government should move in and do all it could to address this situation in Nigeria now. The prices of commodities are rising and the government has to wade in to tackle this issue, and it has our support on this,” he stated.
