Minister of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development, Sadiya Umar-Farouq, disclosed this when he visited the state to collect seized food items from the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), to be distributed to states to cushion the effect of the coronavirus (COVID-19) lockdown as directed by the Federal Government.

Speaking at the State House, Marina, the minister said: “We are here on behalf of the Federal Government to receive these items from the Customs, and this is a follow-up to the directive by the president that the Comptroller General of Customs should hand over these materials for onward transmission to the states affected by COVID-19 and other states of the federation.

“We are handing over part of the items to Lagos. We are handing over 6,000 bags of 50kg rice and two trucks of vegetable oil to the state government for distribution to the poor and the vulnerable in the society…”

Responding, Lagos State Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu thanked President Muhammadu Buhari’s administration for the support, as it had started identifying people that would need the intervention from their database.

The governor assured Lagosians that the items would be stored in the food bank and would be distributed judiciously in three phases to the vulnerable in the state.