Be Warned: Any Foreign Rice In Nigeria Is Smuggled, Some Poisonous

Most imported rice have been in silos for 10 to 15 years and have no nutritional value.
This is its season and that is why federal authorities are warning Nigerians to be careful of the kind that they buy.

So, apparently some brands of foreign rice smuggled into the Nigerian market are said to be poisonous and are already in the market.

Meanwhile, all brands of foreign rice in the market are smuggled.

According to the government, recent tests conducted by the Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development showed that most imported rice and poultry products were poisonous, as the commodities had been stored for several months before being shipped to Nigeria and neighbouring countries.

At a stakeholders’ engagement programme on how to stop the importation and smuggling of frozen poultry and rice into the country, the Minister of State for Agriculture and Rural Development, Senator Heineken Lokpobiri, highlighted that it was the duty of the government to protect citizens against any form of harm.

He said: “For imported ones, we don’t know how long it had been in their (exporters) silos. Recently, one country decided to bring in a shipload of it into Nigeria so that we can use it to support the IDPs (Internationally Displaced Persons) in the North-East, but when we subjected the rice to a test, we discovered that the rice was actually poisonous.

“This means that most imported ones have been in silos for 10 to 15 years and have no nutritional value. So, what we have told them is that anybody who wants to support the IDPs or any other person in Nigeria should please use our local rice.

“The argument is that local ones are more expensive, but we say even if it means buying half bags, do it. It is better for us to eat a smaller quantity of nutritious ones than for us to take poisonous ones”.