A container with imported soups (stew) and some other
eatable items worth N27,960,000 has been impounded by the Nigeria Customs
Service (NCS). The container was said to have been cleared from one of the
ports in Lagos. Customs says the
imported pots of stew and other eatable items could not be verified as a result
of the Chinese Language written on their packs.
This was disclosed in Lagos on
Friday, October 19, by deputy comptroller and national coordinator, CGC Strike
Force, Abdullahi Kirawa. Addressing newsmen in Lagos on Friday while showcasing some of the items seized between September 19 and October 18, 2018,the Customs officer lamented that the system has
degenerated to the level that Nigerians are now importing stew into the
country. According to him, this could
pose serious dangers to the consumers.
“How
can someone come and import stew into the country? The stew was carefully
concealed inside the container. I will advise that Nigerians should ignore egocentrism
and embrace ethnocentrism.
“Our
quest for foreign goods and items must be discouraged and we must work hard to
embrace and patronize homemade goods including our delicious stew that is
prepared from our homes, and stop engaging in this type of business.
“This
type of soup poses danger to public health, to the economy and of course our
teeming youths. If stew could be imported, then what else are we going to do?
So this is something we need to reflect on,” he said. He also disclosed that
some other packed items that looked like mushroom was already deteriorating in
the container.
Recall that Nigerians have been importing foods that people normally
prepared in their various homes in the last fours years, such as Jollof
rice, Garri among others, which Customs have intercepted over the years.
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