Rice City Threatens to Sue CPC over Raid, Seizure of 1,500 Bags of Rice
The proprietor of Rice City in Uyo, Akwa Ibom State capital, Mr. Eno Effiong has threated to drag the Consumer Protection Council (CPC) to court over the alleged seizure of 1, 500 bags of rice worth about N25million for purportedly being fake and sub-standard.
Already, Effiong who is a retired Permanent Secretary in the Akwa Ibom State Civil Service has sought legal aid from the former AttorneyGeneral of the State, Mr. Victor Iyanam over the prosecution of the CPC for damages.
At a press briefing in Uyo, the legal adviser to the Rice City firm demanded unreserved apology and return of the 1,500 bags of rice that the CPC allegedly seized and carted away from their retail outlet on 52 IBB Way and the warehouse on Esuene State within the metropolis.
Iyanam explained that the action of the CPC was at variance with fair trade, adding that their action had caused the organisation embarrassment and untold harms in its business dealing.
He noted that on Sunday, June 24, 2018, at about 10 am, some men who claimed to come from CPC headquarters, Abuja stormed the shop and warehouse of his client, ransacked and destroyed rice stacked in bags and rested on strong wooden platforms as required by experience and best practices in the rice trade.
The lawyer who questioned the justification of the CPC officials to break into the shop on Sunday when most people had gone to different churches in the state capital frowned that during the raid, apart from removing the 1,500 bags of rice, valued at N25 million, duplicate receipts of transactions with customers as well as cash from drawers in the office were removed.
Also, Iyanam said an innocent staff of the company was also arrested and detained for four days without justification and cause by the CPC when they visited the shop.
He further observed that the men who claim to have come from the national headquarters of the CPC in Abuja could not properly identify themselves as they had no identity cards nor the three trucks used to remove the rice had any registration plate number.
Iyanam fumed that the place to which the bags of rice were carted to remains unknown, wondering what will happen to the whole quantity of rice forcefully removed from the shops.