Rice traders from markets in Ibadan, Oyo State yesterday protested overnight invasion of their shops by men of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS).
The protesters, including traders at Iwo Road car park and Mondesuya sections of the Bodija market, said they were shocked when they got to their shops yesterday morning and discovered that the places were empty due to the operations of Customs officers.
They alleged that thousands of bags of rice and hundreds of kegs of vegetable oil were carted away by Customs officers.
The traders, who staged a protest walk, carried placards from Bodija market. They moved to the state secretariat through the Secretariat-University of Ibadan Road, saying no fewer than 88 shops were broken into, with each shops containing bags of rice ranging from 400 to 900.
Contacted, Oyo/Osun NCS Command spokesman Wey Kayode did not deny knowledge of the operation.
He said men of the Federal Operations Unit (FOU) acted within their statutory rights and in compliance with the mandate of the Federal Government to ensure that no foreign rice was allowed into the country.
The Executive Assistant to Governor Seyi Makinde on Security, CP Sunday Odukoya (rtd), who received the protesters at the Agodi Secretariat gate, said the issue is beyond the state government.
He said investigation by the government showed that the operation was not by the Oyo Command of the Customs, but by Federal Operations.
He said the governor would speak with the appropriate authority in Abuja to find out the true situation of things.