The Nigeria
Police Force, Kastina Command, have been accused of carting away 5,575 bags of
maize valued at N85million from AFEX Commodity Exchange Ltd warehouse.
The Country
Manager of AFEX Commodity Exchange, Ayodeji Balogun told newsmen in Abuja, that
the illegal confiscation of the company’s grains was authorized by the Kastina
State Commissioner of Police and executed by the Special Anti-robbery squad
(SARS).
According to
him, July 6, 2017, Mobile Police Officers broke into their warehouse in Zaria,
along Kastina Road, handcuffed staff and refused to tender the search warrant.
When they
finally presented the warrant, it was discovered it was against Diversified
Consulting Company, which is unknown to them, as AFEX has no relationship with
the company.
The country
manager said investigation showed that Diversified Consulting Company allegedly
purchased maize from traders in Funtua, Katsina State about four months ago and
had not paid till date.
Explaining
that the warehouse was under lease from the Federal Government to assist
farmers store grains and reduce post harvest loss, he lamented that for the
police to have evacuated grain stock from the warehouse when the search warrant
didn’t even state such was a most degrading treatment.
The
Commissioner of Police Kastina State, Usman Ali Abdullahi in a phone interview
confirmed the incident, maintaining that the search warrant was at the instance
of the aggrieved party who felt cheated.
“We are not
aware of any company by the name AFEX Commodity Exchange, if they feel
shortchanged, they can come to us for clarification or seek redress from a
court of law,” he stated.
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