COVID-19: Kwara CP Warns Transporters Against Transporting Passengers With Food Items

By Steve Oni, Ilorin

Kwara State Commissioner of Police and Chairman of the Presidential Taskforce on free movement of agricultural produce and inputs in Kwara State, CP Kayode Egbetokun, has warned members of transport unions conveying food items and agricultural products against smuggling passengers into the state.

The CP handed down the warning on Monday while inaugurating the Joint Technical Task Team (JTTT) on Emergency Response to COVID-19 on Challenges of Movement of Food and Agricultural Inputs in the Country at the Police Headquarters, Ilorin.

The CP, who was represented by the deputy commissioner of police (DCP) in charge of Operations, Abimbola Sokoya, said that any vehicle caught conveying passengers with other essential goods would be impounded and the driver arrested and prosecuted accordingly.

He, however, warned transporters to desist from flouting the Federal Government’s orders on restriction on inter state movement by using their vehicles to convey passengers.

He said: “It is only essential commodities, especially food items and agricultural inputs that were exempted from the restriction imposed on free movement across the country by the Federal Government. This exception was to ensure availability of food items in all the nooks and crannies of the country, particularly in this pandemic period.

“Before the inauguration of this committee, that has been the challenge we have in checking inter state travels by the people. You will see transporters conveying smuggled passengers with farm produce and animals in the guise of transporting agriculture products. And we are being blamed as security agents for failing to enforce travel ban.”

The CP, who promised that the team would do everything possible to ensure that its terms of reference as provided by the federal government were met, charged members to constantly communicate with each other and work together to ensure the success of the assignment.

Earlier, the Kwara State Coordinator, Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development and the Secretary of the Committee, Mr. Dare Adebowale Oladapo, had urged members of JTTT to put in their “wealth of experience while carrying out this crucial national assignment so as to protect life and ensure​ food security for all Nigerians and foreigners.”

According to him, the terms and references of the teams in all states include, among others, “working with relevant agencies in the States and Local Governments to develop a window that would facilitate free and unhindered movement of food, livestock and agricultural inputs throughout the country without compromising the security and health of the nation.

Members of the team were drawn from the Nigerian Police Force, NSCDC, All Farmers Association of Nigeria (AFAN), National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW) and Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), Nigeria Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO) and Federal Ministry of Agriculture And Rural Development (FMARD).