FOREIGN RICE POISONOUS – NIGERIA CUSTOMS BOSS

The Comptroller-General, Nigeria Customs Service, Colonel Hameed Ali (rtd), has advised Nigerians to stop eating foreign rice as they are poisonous.

Speaking at a press conference organized by the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Customs Boss said the Federal Government had yet to issue license for importation of rice and that any rice in circulation not produced in Nigeria was smuggled.

He said imported rice is poisonous because before coming into the country it must have spent a minimum of five years in the silos.

“A chemical must have been added to sustain its freshness and that chemical is harmful.

“Also, it has been re-bagged with  new production and expiry dates, and that is what we consume here.
“So, I appeal to Nigerians to please patronise our own rice, it is available, more nutritious and if you do that you will assist customs by making sure these people (smugglers) are put out of business.”

Ali said rice importation was one of the biggest challenges the agency was encountering, adding that it still happened because Nigerians consume imported rice.

He added that if Nigerians could stop buying the imported rice, smugglers would go out of business and there would be no need to bring foreign rice in.

“We always ask for assistance from Nigerians to apprehend these smugglers, but up till now, there is no private citizen that has walked up to us to give us information, the only people giving us information are the rice millers.”