Korede Abdullah in Lagos
It all began with a whisper. At a small buka stall in the heart of Igando, a woman who simply called her name Mama Tola paused mid-stir as a customer played her a voice note. “Don’t buy rice,” the voice warned, “they say it’s cursed. People are dying in Badagry.” Within hours, the warning had travelled faster than any vehicle on the Lagos-Ibadan expressway.
Phones buzzed from Idiroko to Ikotun with grim tales of poisoned rice, curses, and mysterious deaths. Parents messaged children, market women whispered to one another, and vendors watched in dismay as their stalls emptied out—not of rice, but of customers. In a nation where rice is not just food but a staple of celebration and survival, fear found a fertile field.
Africa Health Report (AHR) gathered that the panic was fuelled by a viral tale: a woman whose trucks of rice were allegedly seized at the Seme border had turned to traditional Ogun (the god of iron) worshippers in Ghana to lay a spiritual curse.
The cursed rice, according to WhatsApp forwards and dramatic voice notes, killed 28 people—including a soldier—in Badagry. Another message claimed over 70 lives had been lost. “The rice is like chalk,” one message warned, “you’ll eat and die in minutes.”
The rumour quickly spread from Lagos to Ogun State, and even to Ibadan, as well as other towns in Oyo State. Some claimed the rice was smuggled through the Idiroko border, stolen from a neighbouring country, and now laced with deadly vengeance.
But on the ground, the story doesn’t hold. “I was scared at first,” said Mama Tola, whose buka is just across from the NNPC station in Igando in an interview with our correspondent on Thursday.
“But we’ve been eating the same rice, and nobody’s sick.” Mrs. Aminat Olaniyan, a rice seller at Ikotun Roundabout, cooked a bag in front of worried customers to prove it was safe. “That voice note is fake news,” she said.
“I’ve been selling rice for over ten years—nothing has changed.” Other vendors echoed her sentiments: “If this were true,” said Fatima Lawal at Ikotun Market, “why hasn’t NAFDAC shut us down?”
Still, the panic hurt business and sparked uncertainty even as more voice notes emerged, claiming unverifiable deaths and stoking fresh confusion.
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has now stepped in to quash the viral fire. In a statement, Seme Area Command spokesperson Isah Sulaiman called the story “entirely false, misleading, and not reflective of reality.”
The NCS affirmed that no such deaths had been reported and all procedures regarding seized goods remained transparent and in line with the law.
“Some unscrupulous elements,” the statement read, “are wearing the garment of journalism to disinform the public with fictitious and malicious accusations.”
While officials urge calm, the rumour—though baseless—has done its damage, exposing how quickly fear can spread in a country where trust in information sources is as fragile as a cooked grain of rice.
