PROBE: Reps panel uncovers another set of hidden rice in Lagos

HOUSE of Representatives committee probing the fraud in National Emergency Management Agency, NEMA, has discovered another set of rice hidden in a warehouse in Lagos.

This came barely 24 hours after the House released pictures of over 162,000 bags of rice, donated to the federal government by the Chinese government for the benefit of internally displaced persons, IDPs, in the North East, found to have gone rotten in a warehouse in Gombe State.

It was also gathered that Director General of NEMA, Mustapha Maihaja, has taken desperate steps to evacuate the unwholesome grains from Gombe State.

Vanguard learned that no fewer than 6,779 metric tons of rice, which translates into 271 trucks and approximately 162,696 bags of rice was surreptitiously moved on Wednesday in a desperate bid by the DG to mitigate public outrage against him and his agency for allowing such quantity of food meant for IDPs in the North East to be wasted along with huge public funds.

A top National Assembly source connected with the probe said the NEMA DG and his Director Relief Services arrived in Gombe early Wednesday to hurriedly commence evacuation of the expired rice from the warehouse.

Vanguard, November 16, 2018

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