July 23, 2025
Traders in Daleko Market, Mushin, Lagos State, on Wednesday prevented officials of the Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) from carrying out an enforcement exercise regarding the illegal sale of rebranded rice.
Hundreds of traders at Daleko Market came out of their shops, obstructing FCCPC officials from performing their duty.
Mrs. Margaret Aboluwade, the FCCPC Southwest Zonal Coordinator, during the enforcement exercise, told newsmen that the market leadership and the traders would face the wrath of the law.
“The traders resisted us from carrying out our constitutional responsibility. We’ll get to our headquarters, and the needful will be done.
“We will not say what will happen now, but I know that the needful will be done. Also, some of them alleged that they’re not the only ones selling rebranded Stallion and Cap rice products.
“As we all know, these companies have folded up or left the country since 2015, and we still see their rice products in the market to date.
Traders also restricted the FCCPC officials from sealing shops displaying these illegal products.
“They obstructed the officials from carrying out the exercise due to their population in the market, but we don’t want it to result in violence or market violence.
“Both Stallion and Cap rice are no longer in the market; they are not functioning any longer. What they do is get local rice and rebrand it as Stallion or Cap rice,” Aboluwade noted.
According to her, they rebrand Nigerian rice and expired imported products by packaging them and selling them to innocent consumers.
The zonal coordinator further explained that the FCCPC would not relent in it mandate to protect the interest of consumers.
“We are here to protect the rights of consumers, the reason why we are here is to seal up shops,to seal up selling Cap rice, because we know they are not authentic rice,” she emphasised.
One of the market leaders, who chose not to be named, said that the matter would be resolved by both the government and the market stakeholders.
“We are widows and single mothers; this is the business we do to cater for our family, and we will put more effort into sanitising the rice business in the market,” she said. (NAN)
