The Chairman Senate Committee on Local Content and senator representing Oyo central Senatorial district, Oloye Teslim Folarin has condemned the invasion of the Oja Oba, Ibadan, Oyo State Rice Market by the officers and men of the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS), described it as unethical act that calls for a motion.
Folarin made the declaration in his reaction to the invasion of the rice market by the NCS, on Sunday, declaring that it was an uncivilized act.
It was said that the Customs officers, allegedly aided by some officers and men of the Nigerian Army, went to the market, forcefully opened the shops and carted away eight truckloads of rice.
He added that the raid on the Ibadan rice market was no longer part of the normal official duty or responsibility of the Nigerian Customs Service.
“I am literally against the raid. When I heard about it this morning, I was not happy. Because the customs is a federal agency, I am going to speak to the leadership.
“It calls for a motion, I am going to invite the appropriate quarter. If they want to arrest people, they should go and stay at the border.
“If I have rice or bike to share to my constituents, is my house going to be invaded? It is not done, unethical and uncivilized.
The Public Relations Officer of Oyo/Osun Customs Command, Kayode Wey, confirmed the second invasion, but declared that the operation was carried out by Federal Operation Unit (FOU), Zone A.
“It is the FOU. They are not our people. It was the FOU that went to Bodija Market the last time. It is the same FOU, we do not know anything about it. We do not have any information on it. I am hearing it the same way you are hearing it,” he reportedly said.
However, the Public Relations Officer of NCS, FOU Zone A, Mr. Theophilus Duniya, who also confirmed the development, was said to have be more emphatic, declaring that the NCS is empowered to carry out such an operation.
“Yes, until we examine them. You are aware that the Federal Government imposed a ban on importation of foreign rice to encourage local production in the country.
“As it stands, foreign rice is a contraband and the law empowers us, the Act that established the Service empowers officers to carry out such operations; to break into any shop or warehouse upon reasonable suspicion that prohibited goods are stored, and evacuate them,” he was quoted to have said.
Recalled that the first midnight forceful invasion caused uproar and protest by the affected rice traders in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.
The traders were prevented from carrying out their legitimate trading activities in the market as their shops and five others were put under special white padlock, allegedly put on the doors by the Customs officers.
