FCCPC raids Utako market, seals shops over re-bagged, underweight rice

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC), has raided and sealed some shops at Utako market for selling re-bagged and under-weight bags of rice.

Sealing the shops in Abuja on Tuesday, Mrs Boladale Adeyinka, the Director, Surveillance and Investigations Department of FCCPC, said the raid followed an intelligence gathered by the Commission.

She said the intelligence showed that traders in the market were re-bagging local rice in foreign rice bags and selling them at exorbitant prices as imported rice.

Adeyinka described the move as exploitative, and against consumer economic interests.

She said the products would be confiscated and the Commission would follow the trail to fish out the producers and branders of the rice.

”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.

“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 the local rice and selling them as foreign rice.

“That is exploitative and against consumer economic interests.

“As a matter of fact, for Mama Gold, as far as 2015, they stopped all their export.

“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 is why we are here,” she said.

Adeyinka said the traders found culpable would face administrative penalties and fines under the FCCP Act.

”They will follow due process based on the infractions,” she said.

Adeyinka warned consumers of foreign rice to buy from importers or distributors to ensure the quality of the product.

Some of the traders who their shops were sealed feigned ignorance of the re-bagging of the products.