The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has halted the sale of seized food items following a tragic stampede that resulted in fatalities at the NCS Old Zonal Headquarters in Lagos State's Yaba area last Friday. Abdullahi Maiwada, a Customs spokesperson, made this announcement in a statement on Monday.
Earlier, on February 20, 2024, the Customs had announced plans to sell seized food items at discounted rates to alleviate the country's hardship and high cost of living. The disposal of these items took place at the Yaba office in the presence of other security agencies.
The event began smoothly at around 0800hrs, with the cooperation of a large crowd. Priority was given to vulnerable groups such as the elderly, people with disabilities, pregnant women, and other Nigerians in need. However, the situation turned chaotic when the stock ran out, and the announcement was made to continue the exercise the next day.
This led to a stampede as the crowd became desperate and broke through barricades in search of rice bags. Tragically, this resulted in fatalities and injuries. In light of this incident, the Customs has suspended the exercise until further notice to investigate the events of February 23, 2024, and devise a more comprehensive plan to prevent such tragedies in the future.
