Ruth Semilore
Some residents of Lagos State have been captured on camera queueing up to purchase bags of rice that were said to be available for sale at N10,000 by the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS).
It was reported that Customs announced that the distribution of seized food items will commence on Friday (today).
In a statement issued to journalists in Lagos, the NCS Comptroller General, Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed that customs officials are not allowed to be involved in the process.
According to the statement issued through the service’s National Public Relations Officer, Abdullahi Maiwada, Adeniyi stated that the rice will be packaged in 25kg bags and sold for N10,000.
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The target groups, he said, included artisans, teachers, nurses, religious bodies, and other Nigerians within its operational areas.
The aim, he said, is to establish direct communication with members through these structured systems in order to guarantee the utmost effectiveness of this initiative.
Adeniyi cautioned against the resale of food items, emphasizing that the NCS is fully dedicated to transparency and accountability throughout the entire process.
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It was gathered that to obtain a Custom seized rice at the Lagos Customs zonal office in Yaba, you only need to bring your National Identification Number (NIN) and have 10,000 Naira ready.
I was a Customs officer in the UK. Seized goods were detained and later forfeited to the Crown if the owner failed to pay the duty due. Shortly afterwards the goods were destroyed. Under no circumstances were seized goods held indefinitely.
I find in Nigeria that the Police, Customs keep cars, trailers, food, motorcycles on their premises. These are then pilfered, stolen or sold by law enforcement officers through their agents or proxies.
The rice that is now being sold to public may be unfit for human consumption because of the manner of storage in the open air. I will not be surprised if the Customs Officers have not appropriated some for their personal use over the period the goods were in their custody.