No hiding place for hoarders of food items — Customs boss

The Comptroller General (CG) of the Nigeria Customs Service, Wale Adeniyi, has vowed to eliminate food hoarding across the country.

Adeniyi while giving an account of his one-year stewardship in Lagos said measures have been put in place to prevent the hoarding of food items, ensuring that such activities become unprofitable.

“The Service will continue to work tirelessly to ensure that the business of food hoarders is unprofitable,” Adeniyi said.

He said Customs recorded 1,744 cases of rice and grain seizures valued at N4.4 billion as part of these efforts.

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“These concerted efforts underscore the NCS’s commitment to protecting society and ensuring national security,” he added.

He also noted the inauguration of the Time Release Study in February, aimed at identifying and addressing bottlenecks in the clearance process to ease trade facilitation.

The CG further mentioned efforts to decongest ports and reopen previously inaccessible access roads.

“In response to the need for dedicated terminals to process export goods, the NCS command at the Port of Lilypond was designated to handle export transactions.

“Other targeted measures to jointly facilitate trade and enhance revenue collection by the service include implementation of the presidential approval to decongest the ports area and improve logistics around the port in line with the Nigeria Customs Service Act 2023.

“NCS also commenced 24-hour clearance at the Port of Tincan Island, Lagos, in line with the Presidential Directive to enforce 48-hour clearance of goods,” he said.

To address national security concerns, Adeniyi noted that the NCS has strengthened and reinforced the Federal Operating Units to pursue, intercept, arrest and dismantle smuggling networks.