President Bola Ahmed Tinubu has ordered the Nigeria Customs Service to return food items that were confiscated at border communities to owners on the condition that they would be sold in the Nigerian markets.
The Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service, Adewale Adeniyi, disclosed this in Katsina Saturday during an interface with residents of border communities in Kongolam and Mai’Adua border stations.
He said President Tinubu has decided to exercise his power not in accordance with the law, “but according to the feelings of magnaminty that he has for Nigeria”.
He said: “In doing so, he has directed that those food items that were going out of the country that have been seized in various border areas should be returned to the owners on the condition that those goods would be sold in the Nigerian markets.
“So, we will be monitoring you to know if there is a violation of this. Those food items will be returned, and it is a directive that we will pass them back into the Nigerian markets.”
He explained that Nigeria was in an emergency food situation, and the Nigeria Customs Service will continue to take proactive measures to tackle exportation of food items in order to curb food insufficiency.
The Customs boss said the nation has an Export Prohibition Act that proscribed the exportation of food items such as maize, millet, yam, beans and sorghum, adding that the law would be reviewed when the nation is self-sufficient.
He added that the Nigeria Customs Service would continue to monitor to ensure that food that is produced in the country remains and is consumed by Nigerians to tame food inflation.
