The Nigeria Customs Service has deployed new strategies to tackle hunger and food scarcity across the nation, as it engaged big grain markets to ensure that they shun the exportation and hoarding of the commodities.
Speaking as part of his strategic engagement on the distribution of seized grains stored at Customs facilities across Nigeria, the Comptroller General of the Service, Bashir Adeniyi Adewale, said in Kano on Friday that President Bola Tinubu had given them marching orders to ensure that excessive hoarding and illegal exportation of grains are curtailed.
He said as the Comptroller General of Customs, his duty and responsibilities is to eliminate anything that will impede economic growth and development, and cause hunger and starvation among Nigerians.
He said recent happenings called for urgent actions to eliminate the food insecurity across Nigeria and the fundamental aspect of what they do is the enforcement of the extent laws that prohibit food items, beans, cassava, roce and sorghum from exportation.
He added that the Customs is maintaining vigilant eyes to ensure actualization of the protection of food items being excessively exported, leaving citizens languishing in hunger and starvation.
Bashir noted that recently over 120 trucks of essential food items were seized all over the country, and form part of food being distributed across the country.
In the same vein, the CG noted that they are taking serious measures to ensure that farmers are allowed to harvest their grains and take it to the markets themselves rather than the usual way where companies would buy everything.
He said Customs would partner the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Police Force and other security agencies to achieve its aims.
