The Federal Government has denied that it had imported and flooded the nation’s markets with genetically modified rice.
The Director-General of the National Biosafety Management Agency (NBMA), Dr Rufus Ebegba said this at a news conference yesterday in Abuja.
An online news platform had alleged that the Federal Government through a firm, had flooded the nation’s market with poisonous GM rice.
Ebegba said there was no truth in the report, as he noted that no GM rice had either been imported or released officially into the country. According to him, “no GMO rice has been commercially released anywhere in the world.”
He said the Federal Government had banned the importation of rice and there was no indication that it had been lifted.
Ebegba described the online report as a falsehood and imagination of the writer, who “probably used a fake name.’’
He added that the report was intended to cause unnecessary panic and called on Nigerians to disregard it.
The director-general also urged them to join hands with the government to ensure safety in the practice of modern biotechnology in the country in line with global best practices. He said NBMA was capable of regulating all GMO products in Nigeria, promising that the agency would not compromise on its mandate.
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