Some consumers in Jos have called on Plateau Government to check the prevailing re-bagging of local rice by some dealers of the commodity in the city, describing the practice as unpatriotic.
The buyers who spoke with News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) on Sunday, said many of the traders were opening the standard sack of the commodity, removing some measures and re-bagging it in smaller sacks and selling it to consumers as standard measure.
They also complained that some of the dealers were selling rice with stones in bags of popular de-stoned Nigerian rice brands, in order to make more profit.
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“This unpatriotic act has resulted to increase in the prices of the commodity,” said Mrs Celine Ndu, one of the consumers.
Ndu said the local rice used to sell for between N12,000 and N15,000, but that because of the unwholesome practice, the price had increased to between N17,500 and N19,000 per bag.
Another consumer, Mrs Helen Pam, said that the local brand she used to buy was de-stoned, but that now some unscrupulous traders had adulterated it with stones.
‘’There is nothing wrong with the local rice, but it is unfair to buy a brand and later discover that the content is something else, ‘’ Pam said.
A major distributor of local rice in the state, who pleaded anonymity, said he was aware that their good quality rice was being re-bagged, but that he had no power to stop it.
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‘’We expect the relevant regulatory bodies to check this menace because it is unfair to the consumers,” he said.
Another dealer who also preferred to remain anonymous, said some retailers were opening the bags of quality rice and removing four to five measures and re-bagging them.
The distributors, therefore, called on the Government to check the menace, as it was sabotaging its efforts to boost local production of the golden grain.
