Umahi Orders Confiscation of Foreign Rice in Ebonyi Markets

Benjamin Nworie in Abakaliki

To further ensure the enforcement of his earlier ban on imported rice in Ebonyi, the state governor, Engr. David Umahi, on Monday ordered the confiscation of any foreign rice being sold in any market in the state.

He gave the order during the foundation-laying of ultra modern Kpirikpiri Market in Abakaliki, the state capital.

Umahi’s order came after the visit of Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh; Chairman, Presidential Committee on Rice Production, Abubakar Bagudu, and Central Bank of Nigeria Governor Godwin Emefiele, to the state at the weekend.

The Minister of Agriculture, Chief Audu Ogbeh, had described Ebonyi farmers as the real heroes of President Muhammadu Buhari’s push to diversify the nation’s economy especially through rice production and further backed the ban on importation of foreign rice in the state.