Nigerian Government Shuts Down Chinese Supermarket In Abuja Over Fear Of Coronavirus

The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Commission (FCCPC) has shut down Panda Supermarket belonging to some Chinese nationals located in Abuja over issues with the dreaded and spreading coronavirus.

The officials of the government, while acting on information, stormed the supermarket on Tuesday and discovered illegal operations, importation of foods that are deemed harmful for consumption.

Speaking with journalists after the supermarket was sealed off, Director-General of the FCCPC, Mr Babatunde Irukera said that the move was to serve as a deterrent to others and to safeguard the lives of citizens from the deadly Coronavirus.

Products with expired & irregular shelf life were also discovered at Panda Supermarket, Jabi, Abuja yesterday.

Regulatory activities to remove all offensive products from the Supermarket continues. pic.twitter.com/I6TjukUNMb

— FCCPC Nigeria (@fccpcnigeria) January 29, 2020

According to Irukera, the supermarket was discovered to be selling contraband and expired seafood and animals brought into the country illegally.

He said the sale of contraband and expired food items is very distributing especially at a time like this and especially when the products are coming from Asian countries.

“You know, the biggest issue we have now is the coronavirus and there is sufficient information to show that it started as an animal to animal transfer and now animals to human beings, especially wild animals.

“The origin of it is seafood from a district in China. We’ve got a lot of seafood here and we don’t know how it came.

“We are seeing all kind of things and that certainly violates the laws in Nigeria.

“Some of the products are developing mould even in the refrigerator. There’s a huge cold room there with expired products showing that the products will expire in 2073 and 2089,” Irukera added.

The director-general listed some of the expired food items to include pork, rice, mushrooms, chicken, gizzard, among others.

“We found out that toilets that are used as stores for the food items and certain things that were wrong here. So we will be closing the place down,” he said.

Irukera led the team to inspect the Gwarimpa branch of the supermarket where some of the expired food items found were confiscated.

Happening Now: FCCPC carries out unscheduled spot check on a concealed food store within Panda Supermarket, Jabi, Abuja.

Discoveries so far include products with 2089, 2037, 2018, 2019 expiry dates, etc.

Details later…

Cc: @NigeriaGov @HouseNGR @NGRSenate pic.twitter.com/QszHDCjglg

— FCCPC Nigeria (@fccpcnigeria) January 28, 2020