Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission, FCCPC has sealed 5 shops in Utako Market, Abuja for the sale of fake bags for foreign rice.
The Director of Surveillance and Investigation at the FCCPC, Boladale Adeyinka during a raid on the market on Tuesday said the operation was based on an intelligence that revealed cases of re-bagging of foreign brands that are no longer in the Nigerian market
According to her, “We are carrying out this operation to confirm and validate the intelligence that local rice, our own rice, is being packaged in foreign brands and sold as foreign rice, imported.”
“And because the appetite of Nigerians are for foreign brands, which are no longer in the market, the market cartels are now going about re-bagging local rice and selling them as foreign brands.”
“As a matter of fact, for Mama Gold, as far as 2015, they’ve stopped all their operations, this is 2025 and yet, like you heard from the testimony of the trader, he is aware that they don’t sell those sizes anymore, so that’s why we’re here.” Adeyinka explained.
Adeyinka who stated that the act was exploitative and against consumer economic interests said due process of the law will be followed.
“Those products will be confiscated, we will follow the trail to find out the people that are actually producing it and branding those local rice and re-bagging them in foreign brands that are no longer in the market.”
“And if you are not cooperating with our investigations to locate the source, we will continue to prosecute you that’s a criminal offense under the FCCPC act.”
She also called on Nigerians to purchase rice from the mills or distributors hand importers of those foreign brands.
Fake rice discovered in the market were, Royal Stallion rice and Mama Gold.
Victoria Ibanga
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