Customs to return seized food items to owners
Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) said it will return seized food items including rice to the owners following a directive by President Bola Ahmed Tinubu.
Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, who made the disclosure on Saturday, said the owners of the confiscated food have been given condition to sell them in the local markets.
Adeniyi spoke during a stakeholder meeting at Kwangwalam, a border town in the Maiadua Local Government Area of Katsina State.
READ ALSO: Nigeria begins export under AfCFTA to Rwanda, Kenya, others in April
Adeniyi conveyed that President Tinubu’s directive was aimed at ensuring the populace’s access to affordable food, emphasizing it as a significant step toward promoting food security in the nation.
He said: “The whole idea is to promote food security and ensure that Nigerians will not be living with hunger, and Mr. President considers this as one of the strategies that can help address the problem of food security.”
Highlighting the impact of seized food items on the domestic market, Adeniyi revealed, “We have over 120 trucks of food items for export seized, which means a lot of food items were taken out of our markets, leading to the unavailability that created some pressure on the prices of these food items. So, we hope that by the time we restock our markets, it will have some positive effects on the prices.”
During his visit, CGC Adeniyi also met with former President Muhammadu Buhari in his country home and conferred with the Emir of Daura, Dr. Umar Farouq Umar, in his palace.
The Emir bestowed upon CGC Adeniyi the traditional title of Mabudin Hausa, in recognition of his contributions to the nation.
