In its quest to intervene in the food crisis in Nigeria, the Nigeria Customs Service has come up with a program of selling rice to Nigerians across the nation at very reduced price.
The rice seized from smugglers at its different formations across the country was rebagged into 25kg and to be sold at the rate of N10,000 at Customs formations beginning from today, Friday, February 23, 2024.
Addressing the press on Thursday at Harvey Road, Yaba, Lagos, the Comptroller General of Customs, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, hinted that the service got the approval of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu to sell foodstuffs it seized to Nigerians in need.
He said that the effort is meant to safeguard the food security of the nation and would be monitored to ensure that only those in genuine need benefit from it.
Adeniyi noted that the intervention is being guided by the office of the National Security Adviser.
He maintained that NIN will be used to purchase the rice in order to ensure that an individual does not buy more than one bag.
He warned that beneficiaries should not resell the rice and that any person caught reselling it will be arrested and prosecuted.
The Customs boss urged Nigerians to report cases of misuse or resale of the items to appropriate authorities.
The Comptroller General also disclosed that in its effort to ensure food security, the service has intercepted over 50 trucks of assorted grains and other items being ferried out of Nigeria.
He stated that the trucks carried over 20,000 bags of assorted grains and 25,963 assorted sacks of dried fish, pepper, tomato, salt, sugar and garri.
He hoped that the efforts will reduce pressure on naira and crash the price of foodstuffs.
