President Tinubu has issued a fresh directive to the Customs on seized food items in a bid to cushion hunger effects in Nigeria.
NewsOnline Nigeria reports that President Bola Tinubu has directed the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) to sell all seized food products to vulnerable Nigerians as a means of curbing the hardship and hunger in the country.
This Nigeria news platform understands that the Comptroller General of the Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this on Tuesday during an appearance before the House of Representatives.
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According to the Customs boss, President Tinubu has directed that food items produced in Nigeria and seized at the Nigerian land borders, be sold directly to vulnerable Nigerians to ease the challenge of hunger in the country.
He said, “Mr President has directed that we sell directly to needy Nigerians food items produced locally but which were seized. This is one of the ways to address hunger and food scarcity we are facing. We have started this in Lagos.
“Also, the President has also directed that imported food items seized by the Nigeria Customs Service should be sold back to the local markets for resale to Nigerians.”
Adeniyi said the service has arrested about 120 trucks smuggling food items from Nigeria to other countries in the past two weeks.
Disclosing that most agriculture inputs attract zero duty and zero VAT, the Customs boss decried the attitude of border communities who have engaged security agents in a bid to smuggle grains out of the country, adding that the decision to halt the smuggling of food items was to fight hunger and not encourage those who want to enrich themselves at the expense of the people.
He added that the service would play its part in addressing the food scarcity in the country, adding that the country must put in place long-term measures to address the situation.
The Minister of Agriculture and Food Security, Abubakar Kyari, was also present for the sectoral debate series at the House of Representatives, where the Customs CG made the submission.
