TheCable

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has arrested, Victor Okeke, a 24-year-old man involved in the revalidation of expired products and circulating them across markets in Lagos.

The man was arrested at a one- room shop that he converted into an illegal factory in the Trade Fair complex located in Amuwo Odofin local government area of Lagos.

Some of the products discovered in the factory were Maggi Sauce with manufacturing dates: 15/08/2011 and expiry dates: 15/08/2014, Amoy Dark Soy Sauce, Costa Corned Beef and Exeter Corned beef.

The suspect said he changed the labels of the products to make them attractive to customers who ordinarily prefer notable brands.

He said he decided to engage in such act to avoid loss and shortage suffered as a result of lack of patronage.

“The goods expired after I sold over 100 cartons. When the remaining products expired, in order to get my money, I would change the information,” he said.

Okeke, who confessed that he has spent six years in the illicit deal, said he imports the products from Ghana and that he has clients who come to pick them up at his factory.

“All my products are from Ghana and I buy the labels around here,” he said.

Shaba Mohammed, an assistant director of NAFDAC, who led the operation that led to the arrest of the suspect, said the agency had been on the trail of Okeke for a while.

Mohammed said Okeke was caught in the act, adding that he has refused to disclose relevant information.

“The suspect was caught changing labels of Costa corned beef to Exeter corned beef,” he said.

“We have arrested him and evacuated the remaining products in the illegal factory. We are also charging him for counterfeiting. Some of the products were not registered by NAFDAC. The products were smuggled in from Ghana.

“What we found on ground here cannot be consumed.  We saw two drums filled with ordinary water which he uses to immerse the products and the labels will remove without any trace are and replace with new labels.”

Mohammed highlighted the health implications of consuming such products, saying the agency will not rest on its oars in order to ensure that the public does not become vulnerable to counterfeit products.