The Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) has denied some media reports claiming that Food and Agricultural Organization (FAO) and European Union (EU) said global cassava produced in Nigeria and Ghana have been struck by Cassava Brown Streak Disease (CBSD).
A statement signed by Dr Mike Nwaneri, coordinating Director, Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service, said that it is true the organization has raised the level of alertness of its officers, at various entry and exist points in the country against this disease because of its presence in some East African countries; cassava Brown streak disease is not in Nigeria.
He employs cassava farmers and the general public to disregard the publication.
“The Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS) has not issued any import permit for cassava cuttings or such planting materials for nearly 20 years now that could lead to the introduction of this foreign (exotic) disease,” he said.
He ask anybody with relevant information on the illegal importation of cassava planting materials into the country to come to the zonal offices of the organization in Kano, Port Harcourt, Ikeja, Maiduguri and the headquarters in Abuja.
