Zika Bobby
Nigeria Customs Service has donated 68,256 units of 50-kilogramme bags of rice, clothing and other relief materials to some orphanages in Lagos and South West states.
Customs Public Relations Officer, Joseph Attah, who announced this at the flag off of the donations in Lagos, recently, said the exercise is in line with a presidential directive to the service as a way of bringing succour and ameliorate the plight of Internally Displaced Persons (IDPs) and orphans.
Attah, a deputy comptroller of Customs, told newsmen that in compliance with the directive, a seven-man sub-committee was inaugurated by controller general of Customs to oversee its distribution.
Comptroller Yakubu Salihu, he said, heads the committee, with representation from the office of the service’s legal adviser. He said the distribution would take place in the four Customs zones in Nigeria, to achieve fair reach to intended recipients nationwide.
“Before now, these items were being given to only IDPs by a National Logistics Committee, comprising various security and regulatory agencies. With the relative peace in the North East and with some of the IDPs returning home, the urge to extend to other people in need arose. We are giving out 68,256 units of 50kg bags of rice, over 200,000 litres of vegetable oil, tomato paste, spaghetti, soap, used clothes and other relief materials for Zone A, comprising South West states,” he said.
He added that Customs had commenced donation of relief materials to victims of insurgency in Borno, Yobe, Adamawa and Edo states.