Who Dispatched 50 Food Trucks To Niger Republic With Nigerians Starving?

Who dispatched 50 food trucks to Niger Republic while Nigerians are starving at home?

This was the question that stirred the air, immediately the Zamfara State Transport Agency intercepted the trucks yesterday.

The interception of the 50 food trucks was in the midst of enforcing the presidential directive to arrest food crisis believed to have been worsened by hoarding of essential commodities in the country.

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An indigene of Zurmi town in Zurmi Local Government Area of the state, Shehu Sani told a correspondent of Punch in Zamfara that the 50 trucks were stopped at Gidan Jaja village, close to the Nigerian Niger Republic republic.

The spokesman for ZARTO, Sale Shinkafi, alleged that the trucks were attempting to smuggle the food items to the Niger Republic.

“Our men intercepted 50 vehicles loaded with assorted grains while trying to smuggle them out of the country. We directed the owners to go back and sell the commodities to Nigerians at the appropriate prices”, he said.

Shinkafi explained that the trucks were not accompanied by the agency’s officials but were only directed to return to their respective localities and sell the commodities at affordable prices.

He said, “You know that our main concern is to make sure that the food items are not smuggled out of the country. We only refused to allow them to get into Niger Republic.”

Commenting on the smuggling of food items out of the country, the All Farmers Association of Nigeria blamed wholesalers.

According to him, wholesalers were purchasing large quantities of food from local farmers and clandestinely taking these products to countries such as Niger, Cameroon, and others.

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The report also quoted the All Farmers Association of Nigeria Vice Chairman, Lagos State chapter, Shakin Agbayewa, as lamenting that the hoarding was depriving local market of essential food supplies and also undermining the efforts of Nigerian farmers.

Agbayewa also accused wholesalers, of greed adding that their acts were disrupting the domestic food supply chain and negatively impacting the livelihoods of farmers across the nation.