Rita Odafe
The Kano State authority has discovered a warehouse containing 16,600 bags of rice valued at over N1 billion, intended for federal government palliative distribution, being repackaged for illegal sales.
This rice, believed to have been released during last year’s Ramadan, is marked ‘Not for Sale’ and features the image of President Bola Tinubu.
During the operation, Rimin-Gado reported that the warehouse housed 28 trucks worth of rice that was allegedly diverted by individuals involved in the repackaging process.
He revealed that the confiscated rice was being re-branded for sale in various local markets within the state.
One arrest has been made in connection with this case, while further investigations are set to identify additional individuals involved in this unlawful activity.
Rimin-Gado condemned this diversion as corruption, emphasizing that such actions would not be tolerated by the agency.
“This is clearly a form of corruption as this property is meant for public benefit. Given the current hardships, it is shocking that someone would attempt to repackage it,” he asserted.
“A re-bagging machine used for misleadingly repacking this public commodity has also been seized.
“We acted based on thorough investigations and were equipped with search and arrest warrants as well as a court order.
“The investigation will persist to expose all individuals involved. One person is in custody, and we aim to ensure these deceptive activities are halted.”
He reaffirmed that their actions were lawfully supported and that proper legal measures would be followed in managing the situation.
