The Kaduna Court of Appeal has ruled that the Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) cannot seize foreign rice from markets or highways, limiting their enforcement authority to land borders only.

The December 6 judgment, delivered by a three-member panel led by Justice Ntong Ntong, upheld a lower court's decision that acquitted businessman Suleiman Mohammed of illegal rice importation charges.

The case stemmed from a 2019 incident where customs officials seized Mohammed's truck containing 613 bags of foreign rice and 80 bags of millet on the Kaduna-Zaria expressway. The federal high court initially acquitted Mohammed in 2021, ruling that customs failed to prove illegal importation and noting that foreign rice imports are only banned through land borders, not seaports.

In dismissing the NCS appeal, Justice Ntong criticized customs for targeting traders instead of actual importers, stating "How can a fowl leave to attack who killed it to pursue who is de-feathering it?" The justice emphasized that the Kaduna-Zaria expressway is not a land border and that Mohammed was merely a purchaser, not an importer.

The court ordered customs to either return the seized goods to Mohammed or pay him their current market value. This ruling effectively restricts the NCS's authority to confiscate foreign rice to land border areas only, not within domestic markets or highways.

The judgment clarifies that while importing foreign rice through land borders remains prohibited, importation through seaports is legal, and customs cannot seize such products once they are being traded in local markets.​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​​