Members of the Rice Producers Association of Nigeria, RPAN, led by its Vice President, Mr. Paul Eluhaiwe, visited the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission, EFCC, headquarters on Wednesday, April 17, 2019. The five-man team came to seek the Commission’s intervention towards stemming the tide of rice smuggling, which they noted was threatening the Federal Government’s initiative on domestic rice production. According to them, the y are losing millions of naira in revenue to rice importers as they are now unable to sell their stock due to dumping by the importers. The importers are a cartel that ship-in parboiled rice into the country through Benin Republic and Niger Republic, from where the produce are smuggled into Nigeria. According to Eluhaiwe, “The smugglers do not pay duties, government loses revenue in the process, a clear case of economic sabotage.” He disclosed that the rice are imported from India, Thailand and Vietnam, saying “These produce are i...