The items distributed by the federal government to cushion the impact of the high cost of fuel have reportedly been stolen in many states of the federation, worsening the situation of vulnerable Nigerians as they struggle with a high cost of living as a result of the administration’s removal of fuel subsidies.
Several of the products sent by the government to relieve the suffering of Nigerians have already been taken over by high-ranking government officials in several states of the federation, the Department of State Services said on Tuesday.
In a statement made available to Vanguard on Tuesday, the DSS spokesman Dr. Peter Afunanya said that some unnamed Nasarawa State Emergency Management Agency (NASEMA) officials and their associates who were dealing in palliatives had since been apprehended and handed over to the proper authorities for punishment.
The statement said that the NASEMA officers and their accomplices were busted red-handed reselling the painkillers to unsuspecting members of the public for their own financial gain at the Modern Market in Lafia, the capital of Nasarawa State.
Following concerns from various state governments that the federally released palliatives for their respective states had been diverted, the DSS conducted the operation.
The DSS claimed that after receiving complaints, it launched an investigation, caught some of the offenders in the act, and recovered the stolen goods.
While this operation is still going on in other states, the Service, for example, has intercepted a suspected criminal organization in Nasarawa State that is in charge of diverting and selling the medications intended for the area’s most vulnerable people.
“NASEMA (Nasarawa State Emergency Management Agency) employees and their allies in the marketplaces, particularly Modern Market Lafia, where the commodities were being resold, are among the suspects. However, the suspects have been turned over for the proper disciplinary actions,” Afunanya said.
The DSS official urged the public to alert the appropriate security services if they had any knowledge about this new trend so that they could take the appropriate action.
