Federal Govt Toughens Border Surveillance
The federal government has begun a clampdown on smugglers and hoarders of food items nationwide by toughening border surveillance.
The agencies tasked with this include the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service, Department of State Services and the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission.
This comes after the Organised Labour declared a two-day protest against the current economic hardship in the country.
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The task force established by President Bola Tinubu to tackle food hoarding had heightened alert levels at Nigeria’s land borders across Borno, Niger, Katsina, Sokoto, Kebbi and Jigawa states, describing them as “dark spots.”
The development comes hours after an emergency meeting between the President, Vice-President Kashim Shettima, and state governors at the Aso Rock Villa, Abuja, on Thursday.
At the meeting, Tinubu who cited large-scale hoarding of food in Kano State, directed the National Security Adviser, the Inspector-General of Police, and the Director-General of the Department of State Services to coordinate closely and “ensure that security agencies in the states inspect such warehouses with follow up action.”
The President also ruled out importing food as part of strategies to address the high costs of foodstuffs and the economic hardship troubling the country.
Although 80 per cent of Nigeria’s grain is produced in the North-West and North-East, violence in the regions has largely compromised supplies, even as at least 63 per cent of the country’s 220 million people live in extreme poverty, according to the National Bureau Statistics.
