A larger percentage of rice
imported into the Francophone country were meant for sale in Nigeria.
There are reports that
out-of-date foreign rice smuggled into the country through Seme, Idiroko, Shaki
and Chikanda borders may have flooded Nigerian markets, Leadership reports.
Nigeria shares major
borders with Benin Republic at Seme Border (Lagos), Idiroko (Ogun State), Shaki
(Oyo State) and Chikanda (Kwara State).
The rice has been exposed
to poor storage facilities, rain, weevils and other unhygienic forms of
storage, thereby making the commodity toxic and not fit for human consumption
anymore.
However, the rice was
smuggled into the country through methods that include pouring grains of rice
into various crevices of vehicles.
The product are also
believed to be conveyed in open wooden canoes across creeks and waterways with
large quantity of unhygienic waters splashing on them.
Recall that the
comptroller-general of customs, Hameed Ali warned Nigerians to desist from
patronizing rice smuggled through land borders.
Ali at a joint news
conference on illegal rice importation to Nigeria on Tuesday, October 4, in
Abuja said 99 per cent of rice smuggled through the land borders is not fit for
human consumption. He said NAFDAC samples have showed that smuggled rice
through the borders was unfit for human consumption.
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