The Minister of Agriculture and Rural Development Mohammed Abubakar says his Ministry will partner with security agencies, to reduce the illegal importation of rice through land borders.
Senior Information Officer in the Ministry, Mabel Mbosire in a statement said Abubakar announced this at a meeting, in Abuja, of the Steering Committee of the National Taskforce on the illegal importation of rice through land borders.
The Minister also noted that the ban on rice importation had brought about a significant increase in local rice production and unlocked economic opportunities for rice investors in the country. He expressed worry about the increase in smuggling and has convened the meeting to discuss critical issues in order to strategise and come up with concrete measures to enable the committee carry out its duties effectively.
Abubakar also noted that the huge improvement in the rice sub-sector needed to be sustained for the country’s economic growth, as signified by the huge contributions of the agricultural sector to the nation’s Gross Domestic Production, GDP.
In his remarks, the Comptroller General, Nigeria Custom Service Hameed Ali said the meeting had presented an avenue for the committee to deliberate and discuss how to curb insecurity and smuggling of rice into the country.
