On Thursday, President Bola Tinubu directed the National Security Adviser, Nuhu Ribadu, the Inspector General of Police, Kayode Egbetokun, and the Director General of the Department of State Service, Yusuf Bichi, to work together with governors in pursuing individuals hoarding food items.
This is a fallout of the President’s meeting with state governors in Abuja on the current food crisis the country is facing.
Protest broke out in Niger State last week against the rising cost of food items in the country which many have also attributed to hoarding by some middlemen.
In Kano State, the government had to confiscate 10 warehouses said to be hoarding food items in the state.
Responding to this challenge, the Minister of Information and National Orientation, Mohammed Idris, said that Tinubu mandated these security heads to liaise with the state governors.
“First, the National Security Adviser, Inspector General of Police; and Director General of the State Services have been directed to coordinate with the state governors to look at this issue of those hoarding commodities,” he said after a meeting between President Tinubu and state governors on Thursday.
“At this point that the nation requires food to be brought out to the people so that we can control prices and put food on the table of most Nigerians, commodity sellers are busy hoarding these commodities so that Nigerians will suffer or they will make more money as a result.
“So, the governors and Mr President have taken this decision that security agencies will collaborate with state governors to ensure this ends,” Idris told journalists.
On the government’s plan to import food to ease the rising cost of food items, Idris said that won’t be necessary as the country has the potential to feed itself.
“A decision has also been taken that in the interest of our country, there would be no need for food importation at this time. Nigeria has the potential to feed itself and be a net exporter of food items to other countries,” he said.
“We do not also want to reverse some of the progress we have seen in terms of food production in this country. What we are seeing now is just a temporary difficulty that will soon go away,” he added.
