The Nigeria Customs Service, Oyo/Osun Area Command, Ibadan, on Wednesday refused to receive the 1,800 bags of rice donated to Oyo state by the Federal Government, which the state rejected on account of being unfit for human consumption.
Recall that Dr. Debo Akande, an aide to the Oyo State Governor Seyi Makinde, last week alleged that the rice was infested with weevils and that they would be returned to the federal government.
However, officials of the Oyo State Government, led by the Commissioner for Agriculture and Rural Development, Jacob Ojemuyiwa, who went to return the rice, were denied entry at the main gate of the NIS zonal headquarters in Ibadan.
Addressing journalists, the commissioner explained that the state had written a letter to the Nigeria Customs Service informing it that the bags of the weevil-infested rice would be returned.
READ ALSO: COVID-19: Oyo To Return 1,800 Infested Bags Of Rice Donated By FG
He said the team would report back to the State Executive Council for further action.
The bags of rice were part of items sent to the states by the federal government as palliatives to cushion the effects of the lockdown occasioned by the Coronavirus pandemic.
The Federal government had claimed that the rice was certified fit for consumption by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration (NAFDAC), before they were distributed to states.
However, the Director-General of the Agency Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye denied the claim, saying the agency was never invited to take samples of the rice to conduct a fitness test.
