The Kano State Public Complaints and Anti-Corruption Commission (PCACC) has seized ten warehouses that contained various food items in the Dawanau area of Dawakin Tofa Local Government Area in the state. The commission’s chairman, Muhyi Magaji, revealed this to journalists after confiscating the warehouses in Dawanau International Grains Market, Singer Market, and Kwari Textiles Market on Sunday. He noted that the owners of the warehouses were not present during the operation, but the ones that were opened were filled with commodities such as spaghetti, rice, pasta, sugar, and other food items.
The owners have been served notice to report to the commission to face charges for their illegal activities before the court of law. The commission had promised to fight against hoarding of essential commodities in the state, and it has made a significant impact towards stopping the instant rise in the price of essential commodities. Within a week, the price of rice had jumped from N52,000 to N61,000.
Magaji said that the commission is certain that there is an impact on the situation, and if the tempo is sustained, it would be able to reduce the prices from where they have reached. After going to the market to ascertain the situation, the commission found that each store they entered claimed to be the World Food Programme Store, which is a fundamental problem.
Magaji stated that the commission is wondering whether the World Food Programme would starve the country while taking the food somewhere else. He added that the price of maize has jumped from N30,000 to N60,000, which is unacceptable. The stores contained hundreds of millions of Naira worth of hoarded commodities, which is not tolerable. The commission is taking over the stores and making certain arrests. The commission activated its intelligence mechanism, and they received reports on where and how the food is being hoarded.