By Modupe Gbadeyanka
Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development, Mr Audu Ogbeh, has vehemently condemned the Nigeria Police for raiding a warehouse belonging to AFEX Nigeria in Kaduna.
During the operation, which took place on July 6, 2017, about 5,571 bags of grains worth N85 million were carted away by the security operatives.
It was alleged that policemen attached to the Special Anti-Robbery Squad (SARS) of the Katsina state police command carried out the raid at midnight.
AFEX is an organisation which provides warehouse storage to farmers to reduce post-harvest losses and also offers access to organised commodity trading and financing opportunities.
In a tweet posted on his verified Twitter page on Saturday, Mr Ogbeh described the incident as attack on government’s efforts at achieving food security in the country.
“The raid on AFEX warehouse by alleged policemen is an attack on our efforts at driving agriculture to attain food security. We condemn it,” the Minister posted.
“The AFEX management team has prepared a petition which we will forward to the Acting President upon return from our South West tour,” he noted.
AFEX is Nigeria’s first licensed private commodities exchange which connects small holder farmers with financial and commodity markets.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Dipo Olowookere