No fewer than 2,000 bags of rice allegedly stolen from the 20 trucks donated to Katsina State by the federal government have been recovered by operatives of the Department of State Services, DSS.
DAILY POST recalls that President Bola Tinubu had in a bid to tackle the hardship in the country, donated 20 trucks of rice to the 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, FCT.
However, according to NAN about 2,000 bags of the donated rice were diverted by government officials in Katsina State.
The DSS officials in the state, who confirmed the negative development to NAN on Thursday, however, declined further comments on the issue and preferred to be anonymous.
An investigation conducted revealed that the 25kg bags of rice were deposited in a store at the Central Market, Katsina, however, some people alerted the DSS on Wednesday night, about the theft and swung into action.
The Chairman, Civil Society Organisations, CSOs, in the state, Mr Abdulrahman Abdullahi, expressed shock over the issue.
Abdullahi lamented how the Federal Government donated the palliatives to the vulnerable but it was allegedly diverted by some unpatriotic people.
The chairman vowed that they would continue to follow the case up to its logical conclusion.
He, therefore, advised the government to investigate the matter with a view to punishing those behind the diversion.
Also commenting on the matter, a resident of Katsina, Suleiman Kofar-Durbi, said it was an unfortunate development.
“It is unfortunate that I received the information yesterday night that the President provided relief to the vulnerable and some people diverted it.
“People are experiencing hardship due to the current economic situation in the country, the government should investigate the matter thoroughly and bring culprits to book,” he said.
