The Lagos State Government says the incessant seizure and auctioning of locally produced coconuts by the Nigeria Custom Services (NCS) in Agbara area has hindered its production by farmers.
Ms Abisola Olusanya, Special Adviser to Gov. Babajide Sanwo-Olu of Lagos State on Agriculture, made this known in an interview in Lagos.
Olusanya spoke while reacting to the recent seizure of 1,450 bags of locally produced coconuts from Badagry by the customs officials.
“This type of action by customs can act as a disincentive to farmers in the value chain.
“Lagos State Government is not against border closure by the Federal Government,” she said.
Olusanya said the situation, had however, created fear among the farmers and producers in the areas, and had made the level of production to dwindle.
The governor’s aide said that she had been receiving reports on how people harvest their coconuts and they did not take them to the markets again for fear of seizure.
According to her, people are now afraid to buy coconuts as a result of the incident.
She said that the estimated price of the seized coconuts, according to the association, was N25 million.
“At the end of the day, farmers are not getting the money; the person in the value chain downstream is also not getting the supply to produce.
“So, automatically it has affected the livelihood of those people in the area because fear has gripped the people.
“You can pay for coconuts, expecting it to be delivered and you may not get the supply because it may be seized.
“When people put money down to purchase coconuts and they are seized, that is money gone down the drain.
“People will rather prefer to put their money on something else during the festive season.
“We are talking about a value chain of about N35 billion annually; obviously, the sector has dwindled in the space of three months.
“We want to appeal that customs should investigate any seizure of coconuts first before putting them up for auction in the state,” she said.
According to her, we know that coconut in Lagos State is the main cash crop of the state, it is very critical; the state government has invested so much on it.
“Lagos State produces 70 per cent of coconuts being consumed in Nigeria. Badagry is the enclave of coconuts, and this is known to all.
“We recently held coconuts summit to encourage investors and investment into the value chain and we are the only state in the country to have a government parastatal specifically for coconuts,” she said.
Olusanya said the state government had on Nov. 28 convened a stakeholders’ meeting to identify and resolve the issue, adding that the customs officials snubbed the invitation.
On Oct. 27, two trucks and a pickup van, loaded with 1,450 bags of locally-sourced coconuts, on transit to industrial coconut processor customers, were seized by the customs officials at the Agbara Checkpoint.
The two trucks and the pickup van were allegedly taken to Ikeja Zone ‘A’ Zonal Office of the customs.
Olusanya said: “We are worried about the seizure of locally produced coconuts and the immediate auctioning, without prior notice or investigation by the customs.
“We are not condemning NCS, but we want to understand the reason for their action which is why we invited them to the stakeholders’ meeting on Nov. 28.
“But, to just seize coconuts and auction them off immediately is not the best action.
“One will begin to assume that there is another agenda to it, of which in my opinion, is not the right way to go about it.
“We believe the customs ought to have investigated the source of the coconuts before placing them on immediate auction”.
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