Idiroko border reopening saga and smugglers’ desperation

By Mahmud Abdulsalam

Smuggling into Nigeria did not start this year, last year or the penultimate. It has always been perpetrated by criminals and economic saboteurs, for decades. The smuggling business is a crime anywhere in the world, but in this part, it appears to be unending, defying every practical solution in spite of concerted efforts.

Among the several commodities and goods imported illegally into the country is rice, the most popular staple carbohydrate food. Rice smuggling has since assumed a frightening proportion, hurting private businesses and the economy. Domestic production of the agricultural item has equally been hampered.

Dozens of personnel of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) involved in anti-smuggling operations lost their lives during fierce battles with armed persons and gangs, while reports abound of how the precious lives of some Nigerians were cut short after eating unhealthy and toxic rice varieties imported.

Many citizens still remember the so-called ‘plastic rice’ brought into the country in large numbers, reportedly from China, in 2016. It took the intervention and determination of the Customs to curb the inflow of the adulterated rice which flooded different markets that time.

Another incident happened in 2017, when the Federal Government warned that there were certain brands of poisonous foreign rice being sold. Reacting, the then Comptroller-General of Customs, Colonel Hameed Ali (retd) decried the situation and advised citizens to stop purchase and consumption.

He said: “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 date. That is what we consume which causes diseases. I appeal to Nigerians to patronize our rice, it is available and more nutritious. If you do, you assist Customs by making sure these people are put out of business.”

Rice importation, Ali added, remains one of the biggest challenges facing the Customs. As part of finding a permanent solution to the menace, former President Muhammadu Buhari, in August 2019, ordered the closure of four major land borders over illegal importation of drugs, arms and agricultural products from neighbouring countries.

But in December 2020, the immediate past Nigerian leader ordered the reopening. For about a year that the borders were shut, local rice production was boosted. According to the Rice Processors Association of Nigeria (RIPAN), the Border Restriction Policy implemented by the Buhari government jerked up the demand for homegrown and locally processed rice.

This caused an increase in both the production of paddy rice, as well as rice processing facilities. In 2020, during the coronavirus era, farmers produced as much as 8.2 million tons of paddy rice and another 8.4 million tons in 2021. At the time, all of the paddy produced was taken by the rice processors/millers who processed and supplied good-quality rice.

Even as the borders were closed and the COVID pandemic raged on, Nigeria did not experience food shortage, particularly rice, but the numbers in metric tons of paddy rice produced by farmers began to decline a few months after the borders reopened. Smuggling recommenced in earnest, dropping the volume of paddy offtake by rice processors/millers.

It is on record that upon the reopening, official rice import to Benin Republic from Thailand rose from a meager monthly average of 5,000 metric tons in 2019, to a monthly average of 26,861 metric tons in 2022. Recently, PRNigeria reported that about 35,749 bags of foreign rice were impounded by the NCS between January and April this year.

It was due to the renewed war by the Customs that the quantity of what was seized stopped at the figure given. To this end, the NCS strides in tackling smuggling must be sustained. The Nigerian government should know that unscrupulous elements are bent on frustrating the anti-smuggling war of the Customs and advocacy of groups such as RIPAN.

In June, an old video which showed how Customs personnel reopened the Idiroko border in 2021 was all over social media. The mischievous people behind it apparently wanted to dent the early days of President Bola Ahmed Tinubu, whom they claimed ordered the re-opening immediately after assuming office.

But the goal of those who re-circulated the video failed. First to disprove the authenticity was Customs spokesperson Abubakar Maiwada as he confirmed all the borders were reopened months ago. “All our major borders are open. The video showing the Idiroko border opening is a very old video that a mischief maker repackaged to create a wrong narrative,” Maiwada explained.

The Area Controller of NCS in Ogun State, Mr Bamidele Makinde also dismissed the viral video. While addressing journalists at the Customs Command in Abeokuta, the capital, Makinde stated that the Idiroko border had resumed exports and imports since 2022.

While lending credence to the statements of the NCS officials, RIPAN accused enemies of the Nigerian economy of a sinister motive. It said culprits were individuals/groups attempting to undermine the new administration and promote illegal activities like rice smuggling from Benin Republic, Cameroon, and Niger Republic.

The Director General, Andy Ekwelem, assured of the organisation’s dedication to support the efforts of federal agencies to improve food security and well-being of the populace. Ekwelem urged the authorities and stakeholders to be watchful and avoid the machinations of those who seek to sabotage the government, and exploit the nation’s big brother role within the sub-region.

It is imperative for the Customs and other security agencies to step up the tempo of dealing with rice smugglers and other economic wreckers. The damage these criminals have done to the country and the people is unimaginable. Citizens must not continue to battle all sorts of health challenges occasioned by consuming unhygienic foreign rice.

The circumstances surrounding the circulation of the old video also need to be thoroughly investigated. The sponsors must be fished out and made to face the music as such would send a stern message to their cohorts. Now is the right time to wage another merciless battle against the unending importation of foreign rice into Nigeria.

Mahmud Abdulsalam, a public commentator, writes from Abuja.
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