The federal government is working on the supposition that the current acute food supply in the country, which has heightened the hike in the price of food items, is brought about by the penchant for smuggling of food items by some Nigerians. This was stated by Vice President Kashim Shettima at a conference in Abuja, the federal capital city of Nigeria. The Vice President said that the cause of persisting food inflation is the hoarding and smuggling of foodstuffs in the country. According to him, the government, through the security agencies, have uncovered 32 routes used to smuggle food to neighbouring countries.
Shettima who made this known at a conference on public wealth management held in Abuja, said the identified routes were found in Illela LGA, Sokoto state.
It was a pained vice president who said that the security operatives intercepted 45 trucks loaded with maize, which were being smuggled to neighbouring countries, on the midnight of Sunday, February 18, 2024. To buttress his point, Vice President Shettima said the interception caused the price of maize to dip by N10,000. He said, “(The price) came down from N60,000 to N50,000(per bag).” Labelling the smugglers as enemies of progress in the country who should be stopped, he said, So, there are forces that are hell-bent on undermining our nation, but this is the time for us to coalesce into a singular entity.” The Vice President who had in the past accused the opposition of working against the policies of government said, We have to make this country work. We have to move beyond politics. We are now in the phase of governance. Sadly, some of our countrymen are still in the political mode.
They are the practitioners of violence, advocating that Nigeria should go the Lebanon way. But Nigeria is greater than anyone of us here. Nigeria will weather the storm.”
Once again, shooting directly in the direction of the opposition, he said, Forces are hell-bent on plunging this country into a state of anarchy. Those who could not get to power through the ballot box, instead of them to wait till 2027, are so desperate.”
