By Ginika Okoye
The National Bio-safety Management Agency (NBMA) says it will commence a survey to detect agricultural foods suspected to be genetically modified across the country.
The Director-General of the agency, Dr Rufus Ebegba disclosed this at a News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) forum in Abuja on Wednesday.
Ebegba said the extension of the survey to states which would commence in 2017, was in line with the mandate of the agency to ascertain the safety of Genetically Modified Organisms (GMOs) across the country.
He said the agency currently conducted the survey in the Federal Capital Territory.
According to him, ‘’we recently gave directive to department stores in the FCT to withdraw all GMO foods in their shelves and most of them have complied but now, we want to extend this to the states’’.
“We are looking at a situation in 2017 where we will have a very robust, holistic bio-safety system in the country.
“We will be able to have full consolidation and ensure that we are able to go round the country to collect more samples of materials for analysis to ascertain what we have in this country because we do not want Nigeria to serve as a dumping ground for Genetically Modified Organisms.
“We must ascertain what we consume in this country.
“We want to urge Nigerian to support the agency, believe in the agency and government.
“If this technology is properly applied, we are sure that it will enhance the economy of this country,’’ the director general said.
Ebegba said the agency would deploy some of its staff to the states and also upgrade its laboratory to facilitate the survey.
The director-general threatened prosecution or five years imprisonment for institutions, marketers and dealers of genetically modified foods who were operating without approval from the agency.
Ebegba called on institutions, department stores, marketers and individuals dealing on GMOs to formalise their dealings with the agency or risk the consequences.
He dismissed misconceptions that fruits, rice, yams, tomatoes, currently in Nigerian markets were genetically modified, adding that they were conventionally breed.
The director general listed some of the genetically modified foods currently in Nigerian markets to include maize, cotton, potatoes, carnola and soya bean.
Ebegba assured Nigerians that no unsafe genetically modified foods would be released in the markets.
