The Federal government has directed the enforcement of all extant laws prohibiting the exportation of grains from Nigeria to ensure food stability and sufficiency in the country.
Comptroller General, Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adeniyi Adewale on Friday made the disclosure while engaging dealers at Dawanaw International grains market in Kano.
Besides, the CG, Customs declared that the service owns the duty to eliminate any act of sabotage that will impede economic growth and trigger hunger and starvation in the country.
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Adewale told the grains dealers that Customs has received President Bola Tinubu’s order to henceforth enforce food export prohibition law, especially at a period when Nigerians are struggling with the food crisis.
He said, customs is deploying all intelligence to stop all attempts to export Rice, Beans, Sorghum, Maize, and millet among other locally produced grains and those already imported foods outside the country.
According to him, “In Nigeria, we have the Export Prohibition Act. The law prohibits food exportation. The laws have been there and for the fact that Nigeria is food sufficient, we do not implement it. But now, Nigeria is in food crisis.
“President has asked me to request your understanding that during this period, the law prohibiting the exportation of grain will take full course. Maize Sorghum, Beans, Rice, and other items locally produced in Nigeria should not be exported and those imported should not be taken out of the country. It is only when we are food sufficiency we can be talking of exportation”.
As part of strategic engagement on the distribution of seized grains stored at Customs facilities across Nigeria, the Customs CG, said President Tinubu has directed the distribution of about 120 trucks of the essential food items across the country.
He added that the Customs is maintaining vigilant eyes to ensure the actualization of the protection of food items being excessively exported, leaving citizens languishing in hunger and starvation.
Kano State Public Complaint and Anti-Corruption Commission recently sealed some warehouses at Dawanaw market for hoarding grains while the food inflation bit harder.
Although, the market union has disputed the allegation insisted the warehouses uncovered did not belong to their members.
