The Department of State Security Services (DSS) has arrested Governor Dikko Radda’s Special Adviser on Infrastructure, Alhaji Nasir Lawal, alongside some state government officials and traders involved in the diversion of the federal government’s rice palliative meant for vulnerable persons in Katsina State.
Earlier, the DSS officials had impounded 2,000 bags of rice stocked in stores at the Central Market in Katsina.
The consignment was traced to the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Alhaji Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, while other officials were being interrogated by the DSS over the source of the other 800 bags.
The bags of rice were impounded following a tip-off by some good Samaritans who had noticed the strange movement of trucks that were offloading bags of grains at the wee hours of the night.
The distribution list made available to newsmen by a competent source shows that the Minister of Housing and Urban Development, Alhaji Ahmed Musa Dangiwa, was given 1,200 bags to distribute to less privileged persons.
Meanwhile, the Principal Private Secretary of Governor Dikko Radda explained that the minister had entrusted the bags to his aides, who kept them at the warehouse “for safekeeping.”.
Similarly, the Jama’atu Izalatil Bid’ah wa Iqamatus Sunnah (JIBWIS) received 6,000 bags on behalf of its members, which have also not been distributed to the intended beneficiaries.
When contacted, the public relations officer of the group said he was not aware of the allocation but referred newsmen to other officials of the body for confirmation.
CSOs, residents, and others express concern over the scandal, delay, etc.
Meanwhile, civil society organisations, vulnerable persons, and other residents of the state have expressed worry over scandals and delays in the distribution of food assistance.
Addressing newsmen in Katsina, the State Chairman of the Coalition of Civil Society Organisations, Abdur Rahman Abdullahi, described the scandal surrounding the distribution of the rice palliatives as worrisome.
“It is very unfortunate and worrisome that officials entrusted with distributing the federal government food assistance to less privileged persons would receive the 20 trucks meant for Katsina State yet refuse to distribute it.
“It is even more worrisome that some officials have already taken the thousands of bags of rice to the market, rice that is meant for distribution to indigent and vulnerable people in the midst of this hunger and poverty being experienced in the country.
“I commend the DSS for doing a diligent job of busting and investigating the officials that have diverted food assistance.
“However, the Katsina State government should also set up a committee to investigate the alleged diversion of some of the trucks of rice meant for distribution to less privileged persons in Katsina State,” Abdullahi said.
Meanwhile, Governor Radda’s Special Adviser on Infrastructure and some other officials entrusted with the distribution of the twenty trucks of rice meant for the state are being interrogated by DSS officials over allegations of diversion and hoarding.
It would be recalled that the federal government had announced a fortnight ago that it had released twenty trucks of rice to each state of the federation to cushion the effect of the rising cost of food items in the country.
The bags of rice have a printed label, ‘Federal Government of Nigeria Food Security Programme’ which is usually done to prevent the illegal sale or hoarding of grains meant for distribution to indigent persons.
The twenty trucks of rice for each state were handed over to state governments for onward distribution to less privileged persons in their state in the midst of biting poverty and inflation that has made food and other consumables beyond the reach of ordinary Nigerians.
