Hiiraan
Tuesday, June 14, 2016
MOGADISHU (HOL) - Somali Police have seized a shipment of food aid at Aden Abdulle Airport in Mogadishu today. The food aid which was destined for drought affected areas appeared to have been expired, further investigation concluded that large parts of the shipment which was delivered by WFP was in fact contaminated and no longer edible.
"The shipment is now under police custody at the airport while they wait for WFP staff to arrive" a senior airport official told HOL. "The shipment was so bad that it is unfit for livestock consumption let alone human consumption" he added
The foodstuff included maize and sorghum among others were displaced by the airport guards at the cargo section of the airport today. Police also detained one of the WFP staff members who is currently being investigated by security forces.
Addressing the media at the police post in the airport, the commander in chief of the police unit responsible for the revenue income tax, Abdullahi Hassan Barise said his officers managed to recover the expired food which was in transit to Garbahaarey town in Somalia's Gedo region.
This revelation of expired food will damage the reputation of WFP, which is the largest distributor of food aid to Somalia.
The WFP has not yet publicly commented on the seizure of the expired aid.