The Comptroller-General, Nigeria Custom Service, Col. Hameed Ali(rtd) at a news conference organised by the Ministry of Finance in Abuja on Thursday appealed to Nigerians to avoid eating foreign rice because it is poisonous.

He further declared that the Federal Government had not issued licence for importation of rice and that any rice seen on the streets that was not produced in Nigeria was smuggled. He explained that the reason imported rice is poisonous is because before it comes 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. It has been re-bagged with a new date given as the production and expiry dates, 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”, he said

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

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