• Customs intercepts 15 trucks of food in Sokoto
• Police nab five suspects for diverting 1,840 bags of wheat belonging to IDPs
• Katsina moves to enforce ban on food hoarding, rent-seeking
• Emir of Ilorin debunks trending video of protest in his palace 
• Ohanaeze commends Southeast residents for shunning protests
• APC backs Tinubu, tells PDP governors to resign positions over bad governance

 
Amid the rising cost of food and government’s crackdown on food hoarders in warehouses nationwide, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) yesterday intercepted 15 trucks containing food items in Sokoto State as part of its efforts to prevent smuggling, which has aggravated the rising cost of commodities in the country.
   
Spokesperson of NCS, Sokoto Command, Abubakar Chafe, disclosed to newsmen that the vehicles were arrested along the Gwadabawa-Illela road. Chafe said the interceptions were made due to the quantity of farm produce the trucks were carrying.
   
He said the trucks were currently in custody of the command and that an investigation had commenced to ascertain the owners and destinations of the food items.
   
Earlier at the weekend, NCS operatives had intercepted trucks that were carrying food items at the Kajji community on the Sokoto-Kebbi road heading to the Niger Republic through the Kebbi border. The NCS also seized a consignment of sex enhancement drugs worth N19.6 million duty-paid value in Sokoto State.

   
The Coordinating Comptroller, Kolapo Oladeji, said the seizures were carried out by a joint border patrol team, Sector IV, lamenting that despite the scarcity of food items leading to high costs of living, Nigerians were still smuggling food to other countries.
   
“We will leave no stone unturned to block food smuggling out of the country because of the current situation in the country. We all know that prices of food items have skyrocketed because of the activities of some Nigerians. Our people are hungry, but they prefer to take the food to other countries despite the border closures imposed by the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS).”
   
Similarly, the Force headquarters on Sunday said police operatives of the Eastern Port Police Command at the weekend arrested five suspects in connection with the diversion of bags of wheat belonging to the United Nations World Food Programme (UNWFP), and recovery of about 1,238 bags of wheat in Port Harcourt on February 6, 2024.
   
A statement by Force Public Relations Officer, ACP Muyiwa Adejobi, said the 1,840 bags of wheat, which were to be transported from Ibeto Port Terminal, Port-Harcourt, to an Internally Displaced Persons (IDP) camp located in Kano State were fraudulently diverted by the drivers tasked with this assignment, alongside their accomplices, who were intercepted and apprehended by police operatives.
   
“The operatives arrested five suspects namely Umar Hashim, Edidiong Umoh, Udah Stanley, Abubakar Jariri and Yunusa Babangida, and recovered 1,238 stolen bags of wheat along with the truck and a bus used in carrying out the crime. The recovered bags of wheat have been returned to the World Food Programme, and efforts are in top gear to recover the missing 602 bags of wheat and arrest the other suspects associated with the crime.”
   
In response, the Sokoto State Council of the Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ) has urged security operatives tasked with intercepting truckloads of assorted grains to heighten their operations along international borders.
   
In a statement issued to newsmen in Sokoto on Sunday, signed by Dalhatu Abdullahi and Muhammad Bello, Chairman and Secretary respectively, the council emphasised the need for increased vigilance at the border points.
   
The union acknowledged that the interception operations within the interior parts of the country were resulting in additional hardships for communities, especially those residing along the nation’s borders.
   
“This situation deprives communities of access to these essential food items in markets closer to them in Local Government Areas such as Isa, Sabon Birni, Goronyo, Gada, Illela, Gwadabawa, Gudu, Tangaza, and Binji. However, NUJ is concerned that the additional artificial scarcity may lead to a surge in prices beyond the reach of citizens in the affected zones,” the statement said.
   
The council appealed to the business community to demonstrate empathy by refraining from unnecessary increases in the costs of their products.
In another development, Governor Dikko Radda of Katsina State has approved the establishment of a 27-member committee to enforce a ban on hoarding of food items and rent-seeking in the state. This was contained in a statement by Abdullahi Aliyu-Yar’Adua, Director, Press, Office of the Secretary to the State Government, in Katsina on Sunday.
   
Recall that the Katsina State government recently outlawed the hoarding of food items and other essential commodities in the state. According to him, the task force is mandated to ensure strict compliance with the extant Food Security Promotion Order in the state and identify individuals engaged in hoarding grains.
   
Aliyu-Yar’Adua said the committee would also engage stakeholders in commodity pricing, and arrest and prosecute those found to be involved in hoarding.
   
He said the committee would be chaired by the Chief of Staff, Government House, Jabiru Tsauri, while the Attorney General/Commissioner for Justice, Fadila Dikko; Commissioner for Information and Culture, Dr Bala Zango; and Commissioner for Internal Security and Home Affairs, Dr Nasiru Danmusa would serve as members.
   
Other members of the committee include representatives of the Nigerian Army, Nigeria Police Force, paramilitary organisations, community and religious leaders, and grains sellers/dealers’ association, among others. He said the committee is expected to be inaugurated by the governor on February 21.
   
Also yesterday, the Emir of Ilọrin, Ibrahim Sulu-Gambari, reacted to a viral video of protesters, who allegedly stormed his palace to protest the ongoing economic hardship in the country. In the 26-second video, a large crowd was seen at the front of the Emir’s palace shouting “Ebi npalu” (there’s hunger in the community).
   
The video, which was widely circulated on many social media platforms, including WhatsApp groups on Saturday, attracted several comments from citizens and netizens, especially coming a few weeks after similar protests in neighbouring Niger State and other parts of the country.
   
The Emir, who also doubles as chairman of Kwara State Traditional Rulers Council, said the video was part of the events witnessed during the build-up to the 2019 general elections in the state. He appealed for calm and advised the general public to disregard the video in circulation.
   
Sulu-Gambari, who spoke through his spokesman, Mallam Abdulazeez Arowona, said the call became necessary to avoid misrepresentation of the scenario vis-a-vis the location of the gathering as reflected in the video. He pleaded with the people of Ilorin and Kwara State at large to remain peaceful and prayerful.
   
This is just as the Secretary-General of Ohanaeze Ndigbo, Okechukwu Isiguzoro, commended the people of the Southeast for their calmness in abstaining from a series of protests against President Bola Tinubu over the economic hardship in the country. 
   
He said the region has always suffered government neglect since the administration of former President Muhammadu Buhari and urged Tinubu to implement the recommendations of the 2014 Constitutional Conference amid the hardship confronting Nigeria.
   
He said, “In the wake of nationwide uproar and agitation sparked by escalating living costs, economic distress, and famine, a resolute calmness emanates from the Old Eastern Nigeria, comprising the Southeast and South-South region. The striking serenity and resolute silence amid the prevalent anger and upheaval in the North and Southwest have left many, including the Presidency and the North, astounded.
   
“The preeminent Igbo socio-cultural organisation and unwavering advocate for the Igbo people commend the citizens of the Old Eastern region for their exceptional acumen and sagacity in abstaining from spearheading protests against President Tinubu and the Federal Government amid economic hardships.
   
“Since the inception of the Buhari regime in 2015 to the current Tinubu administration, the Southeast has borne the brunt of governmental neglect and discrimination.
   
“Whether it be the centre’s exclusions, wanton demolition of Igbo properties in Lagos without federal intervention, systematic burning of Igbo markets in the Southwest, minimal federal ministerial appointments, or unjust incarceration of Nnamdi Kanu juxtaposed with the favoured treatment of figures like Sowore and Igboho, the injustices meted out to the Southeast are glaring.
 
 “As protests surge in Niger, Kano, Lagos, Osun, and Abuja, the absence of casualties or protester killings resulting from security intervention starkly contrasts with the haunting memories of Southeastern lives lost during past protests against Kanu’s detainment and the tragic Obigbo (Oyibo) massacre in Rivers State.
   
“Ohanaeze stands in awe of the Southeast populace for their undaunted bravery and rare insight in weathering the storm. We stand in solidarity with all suffering Igbo and Nigerians, urging the Federal Government to overhaul President Tinubu’s floundering economic team with competent hands to salvage the crumbling economy before it collapses completely.
   
“Moreover, instead of issuing hollow threats to disillusioned citizens, the government should heed the voices of reason and implement the recommendations of the 2014 Constitutional Conference to quell the mounting dissent and rebellion.”

MEANWHILE, the ruling All Progressives Congress (APC) has thrown its weight behind President Tinubu over measures being put in place to alleviate the hardship faced by Nigerians.
 
APC’s National Publicity Secretary, Felix Morka, in a statement yesterday maintained that the Peoples Democratic Party (PDP) lack the moral latitude to speak ill of President Tinubu on the hardship faced by Nigerians.
   
This was in reaction to the call at the weekend by PDP governors advising President Tinubu and his party to step aside from power if they are incapable of addressing the current hardship in the country, coming after its earlier call last week that Nigeria may be headed the way of Venezuela if the downward trend was not nipped in the bud. The opposition governors therefore said the APC-led government should either mobilise all Nigerians for sustainable solutions or throw in the towel.
   
But responding, APC said: “President Tinubu is taking responsibility and providing solid leadership in this historic season of deep and enduring economic transformation in our country.
   
“The administration has initiated bold and far-reaching reforms that are indispensable to economic recovery, sustainable growth and prosperity. Our people are going through transient but painful difficulties that the administration is supremely determined to mitigate as these policies begin to yield desired results.”