Supplements for malnourished children diverted to fatten livestock – Yobe govt
The Yobe State Government has alleged that Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), a life-saving nutritional supplement for children with severe acute malnutrition, is being diverted and smuggled to neighbouring countries where it is allegedly used to fatten livestock. The Executive Secretary of the Yobe State Primary Healthcare Management Board, Dr Babagana Kundi Machina, made the allegation […]
The Yobe State Government has alleged that Ready-to-Use Therapeutic Food (RUTF), a life-saving nutritional supplement for children with severe acute malnutrition, is being diverted and smuggled to neighbouring countries where it is allegedly used to fatten livestock.
The Executive Secretary of the Yobe State Primary Healthcare Management Board, Dr Babagana Kundi Machina, made the allegation during a stakeholders’ meeting with security agencies in Damaturu aimed at tackling the illegal sale and diversion of the product.
He described the practice as a betrayal of public trust, saying children who urgently need therapeutic food are being denied life-saving treatment.
“Some of these commodities are smuggled into neighbouring countries and fed to animals to fatten them, while our children are starving and dying,” he said.
Machina described the diversion as more than an economic crime, warning that it poses serious public health and national security risks.
He said the state government had released N500 million this year as counterpart funding for nutrition commodities, while UNICEF provided a matching N500 million, bringing the total intervention to N1 billion.
“Government and development partners are investing huge resources to fight malnutrition, but these efforts are being undermined by diversion,” he said.
He appealed to security agencies to strengthen surveillance and dismantle networks involved in the illegal trade.
The Chairman of the Yobe House of Assembly Committee on Health, Kachalla Ajiya Maina, also alleged that cartons of the therapeutic food were being smuggled into the neighbouring Niger Republic.
Maina recalled that while serving as Director of Primary Health Care in Bade Local Government between 2013 and 2018, he led an operation that recovered large quantities of the product from a suspect’s residence.
He claimed the suspect later turned out to be politically connected and that he was transferred shortly after the operation.
According to him, the diversion involves transporters, traders and some health workers who allegedly collaborate to sell the nutrition products.
He called for stricter monitoring of the supply chain, greater community vigilance, and tougher sanctions for anyone found diverting therapeutic food meant for malnourished children.