NAFDAC arrests man with 16 cartons of fake food seasoning product

The Abia state coordinator of NAFDAC,Olisa Okeke, said the agency has arrested one Samuel Chukwu for allegedly faking a food seasoning product owned by another importer

Okeke disclosed that the agency was also able to retrieve some cartons from two people- He said the product is named “Benny Powdered Chicken Stock” with the image of the head of a cockerel in front of the pack The National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Abia state Office, has arrested one Samuel Chukwu for allegedly faking a food seasoning product owned by another importer.

The state coordinator of NAFDAC, Olisa Okeke, disclosed this in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria in Aba.Okeke said that Chukwu claimed in his preliminary statement that he was not the importer but only an agent to an importer in Onitsha, Anambra, who brought in the fake products.

He said that the original product was imported from South Africa by a Nigerian, who had been the sole distributor until the fakers went to China to produce the adulterated version.

Okeke added that the importer of the spice registered it with NAFDAC and had been renewing the registration with a record of good business until the fakers went to reproduce it in China.

He said: ''After surveillance, we were able to isolate the warehouse and with the support of the Nigerian army, the warehouse was stormed and we arrested Samuel Akin Chukwu and confiscated about 16 cartoons of the product.

''We were also able to retrieve some cartons from two persons who had bought the fake products and were leaving the shop on our arrival.

''According to the NAFDAC official, the agency confiscated a total of 26 cartonsof the fake product from Chukwu and his customers.Okeke descried the Eziukwu Market in Aba as the centre for high volume of trade in food items, adding that some dubious persons used the opportunity to manufacture fake food products.

According to him,''Eziukwu is a market that NAFDAC Abia office has its eyes on because of the activities of nefarious individuals in from time to time.”

NAIJ.com