NAN-AE-10
Oil
By Vivian Emoni
Abuja, March 1, (NAN) The Environmental Health Officers Registration Council of Nigeria (EHORECON) has locked up a shop containing more than 1,000 suspected adulterated 25 litres of vegetable oil in the Federal Capital Territory.
The shop located at Nymex Plaza, Gado Nasko Road, Kubwa, Bwari Area Council in the FCT, belongs to one Madam Tina Unachukwu.
Mr Haruna Labaran, the Head of EHORECON in the area council, told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) that the officials of the council caught Unachukwu changing the label of vegetable oil.
“The council officials were at the shop on Monday when the woman was washing the 25 litres of vegetable oil and changing the labels with another label that carries a different name.
“What they were doing looked suspicious and we moved closer to actually observe it.
“We interrogated her to know why she decided to change the label but she said that the labels were given to her where she bought the oil in Kano from one Alhaji.
“The original labels have difference names; some were bearing OKI oil, some ORIBA oil and others CARA oil, while the name of the new label was bearing Sawaf oil.
“We collected the labels from her and discovered that the label has no expiring date, it has no batch number neither does it have manufacturer`s name.
“We immediately collected her shop keys, locked up the shop and reported the matter to chairman of the area council in Bwari.
“The council had involved National Agency for Food, Drug, Administration and Control (NAFADAC) to investigate the matter,’’ he said.
He said that the shop would remain locked till further investigation by NAFADAC.
The Chairman of the Area Council Bwari, Mr Musa Dikko, said that the matter was reported to him and with a collaborated efforts, the issue was informed officially to NAFDAC.
“NAFDAC officials will ascertain to us if the label is original or not, once NAFDAC officials confirm that the label is right.
“Also, there is no breach of law and there is nothing like adulterated item or that the woman is not engage in any fraudulent act, she will continue with her business.
“But we want to tell the public that rightly, serious activities are going on, we are making sure that the public will not be deceived.
“If we have product that is not clean, of course such product is hazardous, and can be dangerous to our health.
“We will not want to see the area council consuming a hazardous product, so the public should not panic, certainly we must ensure that things work well,’’ he said.
Mrs Clementina Anyakora, the Head of NAFDAC, FCT, however commended efforts from the council and the chairman, adding that such commitment would promote environmental health in the country.
“This commitment and collaboration will help to achieve our mandate and promote the environmental health in the society.
“For sometimes we had a report in this area that some people brought in oil a certain time to the market and we have been on a look out to be able to get the people.
“We want to thank God that we have been able to get them through the help of the council and the area council chairman as well.
“So we are taking up from where the EHORECON and the council stopped, we are going to do the needful thing, we are going to do further investigation.
“The investigation may take us outside Abuja, I don’t know yet but we are going to do an investigation to find out the source.
“We will find out where she is buying the items from and where she is supplying them to, then we will do some analysis on the matter,’’ she said.
She said that NAFDAC was being mandated to safeguard the lives of people, adding that the agency would continually get to the root of the matter.
She however encouraged further collaboration, advising the council not to relent in the collaborative effort.
The suspect refused to answer questions from newsmen on the matter. (NAN)
VOE/GY
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Edited by Grace Yussuf