Drama as Customs bars Oyo government from returning #PoisonousRice

Peter Olaniyi

There was a mild drama on Wednesday at the Oyo/Osun Command of the Nigeria Customs Service when the officers of the command physically barricaded the entrance to the complex to prevent the return of the contaminated rice.

It would be recalled that the Customs authority and Oyo state government have engaged themselves in a war of words over the 1800 bags of rice donated to it by the Federal government as Covid-19 palliatives.

The Oyo government has insisted that the rice was poisonous and unfit for human consumption, a claim the customs has vehemently denied.

However, the matter got to the head on Wednesday when the Oyo government sent its officials to return the controversial consignment but were met with stiff resistance by the customs officers who denied them entry.

Speaking at the gate after being denied entry, Oyo State Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr. Jacob Ojemuyiwa, said the state had earlier written a letter to the Customs Service to notify it of its intention to return the “infested” rice.

While expressing shock at the Customs barring the trucks from being driven in, Ojemuyiwa said the state executive council would determine the next steps to take on the matter.

It was learnt that for some hours the trucks of rice remained outside while the drivers and loaders said they await further directive from the state government’s officials on whether the trucks would be left at the Customs entrance, driven back to the state secretariat or taken to another place.

The Public Relations Officer, Oyo/Osun Command of the Customs Service, Abdullahi-Lagos Abiola, said the command was yet to get any directive from the Customs headquarters to receive the bags of rice.

He informed that the Customs Service had not officially received the rice from the Oyo State government, adding that the state government left the trucks outside their gate at its own risk