Comptroller General of the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Colonel Hameed Ali (retd), has appealed to Nigerians to stop consuming foreign rice because it is poisonous.
He said this in Abuja, at a news conference organised by the Ministry of Finance, yesterday.
Ali said the Federal Government had not issued licence for importation of rice and that any rice seen on the streets that are not produced in Nigeria are smuggled.
He reiterated that imported rice are poisonous, because, before coming into the country, they 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 a new date given as the production and expiry date and that is what we consume here which causes diseases.
“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 are put out of business.”
Ali said rice importation is one of the biggest challenges the NCS is encountering, and added that it still happens be- cause Nigerians consume imported rice.
The Customs CG also said Nigerians are not helping matters as they helped the smugglers bring in the product.
According to him, if Nigerians stop buying the imported rice, smugglers will go out of business and there will be no need to bring it 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.
“We are working very closely with them, to make sure that the rice that comes into this country are validly processed.”
According to him, there is no smuggler that is too big to be arrested, and that the NCS has in custody three big rice smugglers.
He said because of the smugglers, the NCS enlarged its task force, specifically, to fight the rice problem, especially in the season of fasting, a celebration period which smugglers would try to import rice.