Officers of the Federal Competitors and Client Safety Fee (FCCPC) have raided the Utako market in Abuja, sealing a number of retailers over the alleged shopping for and promoting of native rice re-bagged as overseas manufacturers by market cartels.
The operation, which occurred on Tuesday, was carried out with the assist of law enforcement officials and different safety operatives, and was monitored by Nairametrics.
Nairametrics studies that the FCCPC officers focused store house owners promoting rice manufacturers like Royal Stallion and Mama Gold, asserting that intelligence gathered indicated these firms had ceased importing their rice manufacturers into Nigeria way back to 2015.
Nairametrics noticed that greater than 5 giant retailers stocked with varied baggage of rice have been sealed in the course of the raid, and the house owners have been directed to report back to the FCCPC headquarters for investigation.
Explaining the event in a press interview, Mrs. Boladale Adeyinka, Director of the Surveillance and Investigation Division at FCCPC, stated that intelligence indicated a development of re-bagging native rice as overseas manufacturers.
“The Fee has resolved to hold out this ongoing operation to substantiate and validate studies that native rice is being packaged as imported rice,” she defined.
Standing beside a sealed store, Mrs. Adeyinka emphasised that because of Nigerians’ choice for overseas rice—regardless of it not being imported—market cartels have allegedly resorted to re-bagging native rice and promoting it as overseas.
“That’s exploitative. That’s towards client {economic} pursuits,” she stated.
“They aren’t imported. They aren’t from Thailand. In actual fact, for Mama Gold, all exports ceased way back to 2015. That is 2025, and but, as you heard from the testimony of a dealer, he’s conscious that these sizes are not offered. That’s why we’re right here,” she stated.
“We’ll observe the path to establish these producing and branding native rice with overseas labels that not exist out there. The model house owners have already publicly introduced they’re not distributing in Nigeria. Nevertheless, because of model recognition, these cartels proceed to use shoppers,” she added.
“Now we have administrative penalties and fines beneath our legislation,” she stated, noting that any resistance by merchants or refusal to cooperate with investigators will end in prosecution.
Talking to the press, Igwenma Alex, secretary of the Utako Market Store Possession/Merchants Affiliation, claimed that rice sellers had full inventory and have been unaware that the overseas manufacturers had been banned.
“When one thing is banned, shouldn’t consciousness be created for Nigerians? In order that they comprehend it’s now thought-about counterfeit? Even if you ban one thing, it’s not simply in regards to the merchants—you’re defending your complete nation,” he stated.
He argued that each shoppers and sellers lacked consciousness of the event.
One of many merchants whose store was sealed by the FCCPC, instructed the press that if he knew these rice merchandise have been banned or are not out there, he wouldn’t have purchased it.
He harassed that he buys his items from Kaduna Street and Kano.
Underneath Part 125 of the FCCPA, companies are prohibited from making false or misleading representations about product attributes to shoppers.
Part 138 reinforces this by holding producers, importers, distributors, and suppliers accountable for breaches of implied obligations, together with product claims.
