The service also noted that the cooperation and collaboration of all stakeholders is needed in tackling the dire food crisis being experienced.
The Comptroller General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, said this when he visited the Lamido of Adamawa, Dr. Barkindo Mustapha in Yola on Thursday.
Adeniyi, represented by the acting Controller in charge of the Federal Operations Unit Zone ‘D’, Joseph Adelaja, said they were at the palace to seek the monarch’s collaboration in tackling activities of unscrupulous businessmen behind current food insecurity in the nation.
He explained that the reason for the visit was to seek cooperation, particularly information on the activities of hoarders whose activities have contributed to soaring prices of food commodities.
He said, “Because of the current economic reforms going on in the country, we are confronted with food insecurity. This food insecurity is occasioned by the illicit exportation of essential commodities.
“We are urging all to support us in this fight with the necessary information to tackle the menace of hoarding we have faced which has caused a hike in the potential prices of essential food commodities. Food security is the business of every Nigerian. Prices today have gone up extra-ordinarily like we have never had before because unpatriotic individuals are exporting foods that are meant for Nigerians.”
Adelaja, accompanied by other senior customs officers, decried the activities of unpatriotic businessmen.
He said, “People are hungry and you are exporting food out of the country to feed other nations.
This is not in the best interest of the country and we must all join hands to tackle the menace headlong.”
In his remarks, the Galadima of Adamawa, Mustapha Aminu, who represented the Lamido, said the role of the customs in national food security and sustenance was indispensable.
He urged the customs to remain steadfast in its economic and security role while pledging the support of the Emirate to the customs in achieving its goal of tackling the current economic food crisis.
Sunday PUNCH reports that amid the free fall of the naira to the United States dollar, traders who deal in grains have devised a way to sell their wares to neighbouring countries for higher profits.
Many of them, who spoke to our correspondents, claimed that they preferred to sell their wares to the countries because they had stronger currencies compared to the naira.
This, several experts have said, may lead to hoarding and an artificial grain scarcity and can cause the price of the goods to further head north, thereby leading to a food crisis if nothing is done about it.
This is coming at a time when the country is battling severe hunger, as the prices of staples have increased by over 300 per cent.
The country is also witnessing the highest inflation in 28 years, with the food inflation rate in January hitting 35.41 per cent.
Nigeria’s annual inflation rate rose to 29.90 per cent in the same month from 28.92 per cent in December 2023, according to official figures from the National Bureau of Statistics.
For instance, a bag of long grain rice now sells for almost N80,000 as against N45,000, which it sold for in December 2023. A crate of eggs now sells for almost N5,000; in December, it sold for N2,700.
Several other food items have also seen an astronomical increase in prices owing to several market forces, chief of which is the free fall of the naira.
