Four men have been apprehended in Lagos state for allegedly producing fake engine oil.
The suspects, Agu Ndubuisi, John Ibem, Samuel Chukwuonye and Lawrence Frank, were paraded weekend at the state Command of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps, NSCDC, in Ikeja, the state capital.
The Commandant, NSCDC, Lagos Command, Tajudeen Balogun, who paraded the suspects, said operatives of the Corps swooped on the suspects based on intelligence report.
Balogun said, “They were arrested on Thursday at a factory on Marine Bridge Street, Apapa, where the lubricant was produced in large quantity.
“They were caught where they were doing illegal mixing. The oil can destroy car engines.
“Five jerrycans containing the counterfeit product and a bucket of gum used in the factory were recovered.
“A laboratory test is ongoing on the product in order to confirm its counterfeit nature and to serve as evidence against them.
“They would face the full weight of the law to serve as a deterrent to others,” the Commandant added, stating that the factory owner, identified only as Emeka, took to his heels and was still at large.
“We will get him and make him face the law,” Balogun said.
Meanwhile, the suspects branded the counterfeit product in the name of a leading lubricant producer in the country in order to deceive unsuspecting members of the public.
Twenty-three-year-old Chukwuonye from Anambra State said he did not know the factory produced adulterated engine oil until he was arrested.
“I was arrested the first day I worked with them,” he added.
Frank, 23, said, “My duty is to load the product inside buses for it to be taken to the market. But I don’t know where it is sold.
“I know it is adulterated. It was joblessness that made me join the factory. I just finished from secondary school last year,” he confessed.
On his part, Ndubuisi, 19, who hails from Ebonyi State, said five drums of the counterfeit oil with 250 litres each were produced daily at the factory.
The teenager said he was paid N8, 000 per week, adding that he wanted to use his wages to fund his higher education.
According to him, “I am one of the manufacturers at the factory. We produce about five drums per day.
“The oil is packaged inside four-litre jerrycans. But I don’t know the price for each. It is our boss, Emeka that markets the product.
“He does not disclose the price to us. He gives me N8, 000 per week. I just finished my secondary school and I intend to continue my education.”
Ibem, an indigene of Abia State, who regretted working at the factory, said his role was to package the oil into jerrycans in readiness for sale.
He said, “I joined the factory in February 2015. I collected N8, 000 per week. My work is to package the oil for sale but it is our boss that takes it to the market.”
Comments