ANALYSIS: Nigeria Customs begins distribution of seized food items. Are they fit for consumption? Here’s what we found

From Jelili Fabiyi, a cement store sales boy, who had since December stopped going to work as a result of fuel hike and low patronage, to Muinat Hassan, a businesswoman who could no longer afford to transport herself to work, SOLACEBASE has written a series of reports on how Nigerians who live on tiny margins between their income and needs are struggling to survive.

As prices of food and goods continue to skyrocket, businesses fold up and more people become jobless. Though President Bola Tinubu campaigned with the slogan “let the poor breath”, many are now saying breathing has become more difficult since Tinubu announced the removal of subsidy on petrol, claiming it would benefit the poor. 

Now, people are dying and cannot even afford inhalers to breathe.

Earlier this month, residents of Minna, the capital of Niger State, took to the streets to protest over the rising cost of living occasioned by fuel subsidy removal and the devaluation of the naira. A similar protest was held in the Kano metropolis, Ibadan, and some parts of Lagos. 

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“What our leaders are doing to us is unfair and we have been pushed to the wall. Life is so difficult. Our children can no longer go to school due to hunger and our inability to pay their fees. Prices of food keep increasing on a daily basis,” Abba Mai Baki, one of the protesters in Kano said. 

Customs announced the selling of seized rice

In a bid to address the unprecedented hardship being experienced by Nigerians, the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), on Tuesday, announced a plan to sell some forfeited food items to the citizens at lower prices. By Feb. 23, the Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Bashir Adewale Adeniyi announced that the agency has secured approval from the government to sell seized food items to needy Nigerians at discounted prices after satisfying the verification process of presenting the National Identification Number (NIN).

Speaking at the flag-off of the rice disbursement program in Lagos on Thursday, Adeniyi emphasized that the distribution of rice would be targeted at areas of customs operations to ensure direct access to beneficiaries.

He expressed commitment to align with President Bola Tinubu-led administration’s plans to tackle the pressing issue of food insecurity by ensuring the availability of essential food items to Nigerians.

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Stressing the importance of transparency and accountability in the distribution process, the CGC urged Nigerians participating in the exercise to refrain from selling the rice in markets or hoarding it for purposes other than domestic consumption.

“The target groups include artisans, teachers, nurses, religious bodies, and other Nigerians within our operational areas. The intention is to reach out directly to members through these organised structures to ensure the maximum impact of this exercise.

“It is imperative that beneficiaries of this exercise understand that the items are not to be resold. We take a strong stance against any form of profiteering or exploitation of this initiative. We urge Nigerians to report any incidents of misuse or unauthorized resale of the seized food items.” the CGC said.

By Friday, the social media became agog with videos and pictures showing the distribution of confiscated 25kg bags of rice to Nigerians at Harvey Road, Yaba, Lagos state. The bags of rice are reportedly going for the discount rate of N10,000 each.

A fast-circulating video on one of the most influential social media platforms, X, shows a large crowd waiting in long queues to benefit from the discount rates. A bag of 50kg is going for N20,000.

Are these bags of rice fit for consumption?

In Oct. 2016, ex-Comptroller-General of Customs, retired Col. Hameed Ali, said 99 percent of rice smuggled through the land borders are not fit for human consumption. Speaking at a joint news conference on illegal rice importation to Nigeria, he said samples of some of the rice seized over a period were referred to NAFDAC to ascertain their condition, and test reports certified that smuggled rice through the borders was unfit for human consumption.

He reiterated this in 2019, saying most imported rice are poisonous because before coming into the country, they must have spent a minimum of five years in the silos.  “A chemical must have been added to sustain its freshness and that chemical is harmful. Also, it has been re-bagged with a new date given as the production and expiry dates, and that is what we consume here which causes diseases.

“So, I appeal to Nigerians to please patronize our own rice, it is available, more nutritious and if you do that you will assist Customs by making sure these people are put out of business,” he said. 

At the peak of COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, Both Oyo government and the Oyo/Osun Command of NCS traded blame over the 1,800 bags of rice customs supplied to the state government as parts of federal government palliatives to the state. Three days after taking delivery of the rice, the Oyo State government through the special adviser to the state Governor, Debo Akande, said the rice is not healthy for human consumption. 

While the then minister of humanitarian affairs, Sadiya Farouq, was also dragged into the controversy when she said NAFDAC certified the rice as fit for consumption, customs insisted the bags of rice that exited its Command headquarters in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital were in good condition, a claim NAFDAC denied. 

READ MORE: Hardship: Customs begins distribution of seized food items to needy Nigerians

In May 2022, the federal operations unit (FOU) zone A of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) cautioned Nigerians against the consumption of imported rice following the discovery of toxic contents in the commodity.

“Pursuant to the federal government’s policy that encourages local production of rice against the importation of foreign parboiled rice, this Unit had seized 7,259 of 50 kg bags of rice, an equivalent of over twelve (12) truckloads,” the service said. “Sequel to a laboratory test analysis on some previously seized foreign parboiled rice by NAFDAC, one of the test parameters indicated some contents of lead (a soft heavy toxic malleable metallic element) in the tested rice. This is making the rice unfit for human consumption.”

The spokespersons of both NAFDAC and NCS could not be reached for comments as of the time of filing this report.