The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) said people need to show their National Identity Number (NIN) to get food items across Nigeria.
They started giving out seized food to people who need it. Wale Adeniyi, the head of Customs, said they noticed some people taking lots of food out of Nigeria. This makes it hard for people here to get food.
Adeniyi said the government is fixing problems in the economy, like insecurity and money issues.
“Some of the food items being moved out include: over 20,000 bags of assorted grains (Rice, beans, Maize, Guinea corn, millet, Soya beans, 2500 cartons and 963 bags of dried fish. Others include Dried pepper, tomatoes, cooking oil, Maggi, Macaroni, salt, sugar, garri. ”
He said “This trend is not sustainable as it puts pressure on our productive capacity and threatens our food security. To address this, the NCS has remained responsive in carrying out its mandate to protect our borders from the inflow and outflow of restricted goods. ”
Customs got permission to sell the seized food to Nigerians who need it. They will sell a bag of rice for 10,000 naira.
They will give it to people through trusted groups to make sure it helps those who need it most.
Customs will watch closely to make sure the food goes to the right people. They don’t want anyone to sell it for more money.
They ask people to report if someone does this. They promise to punish anyone who does bad things with the food.
“We urge Nigerians to report any incidents of misuse or unauthorized resale of the seized food items. NCS is fully committed to transparency and accountability in this process, and we will not hesitate to take decisive action against any person or entities found to be in violation of the terms of this program.” he said.
