Coronavirus: Oyo Rejects FG’s ‘Weevil Infested’ Rice

The Oyo State government has rejected three truckloads of rice donated by the federal government as Coronavirus (COVID-19) relief material.

The state government said it had received 1,800 bags of rice from the federal government but found that they had been infested with weevils.

Governor Seyi Makinde’s executive assistant on Agribusiness, Debo Akande, revealed the state’s decision to return the donation to the federal government in a statement.

“We received these items from the Federal Government via the Ministry of Humanitarian Affairs, Disaster Management and Social Development and we brought them to the warehouse. It was in the process of further inspection that we discovered that the rice had been infested with weevils.

“On that basis, we formed a committee to re-inspect it so we can be sure of what we have received.

“We don’t want to create another problem while providing solution to another one. We have inspected it; we have done random selection and we have seen that similar things apply across the board.

“We have agreed to return them to the source but if there are good ones with good quality that could be sent to us as replacement, we will be glad to receive them.

“We all know that a good number of food items have been received by the Food Security Committee of the Task Force and they would be distributed in the next couple of days. We have in place a robust system for distribution and that we have finalised on it,” said Akande.