The Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has handed over two trucks laden with 90, 000 litre of impounded ethanol and six suspects to National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) for further investigation.
The Akwa Ibom Commandant of NSCDC, Mrs. Geraldine Abetianbe, during the handover on Thursday in Uyo, said the trucks were impounded on June 23 and 27 along Ikot Umo Essien in Essien Udim LGA.
Abetianbe said the operatives of this command, acting on credible intelligence, intercepted and impounded two trucks suspected to be conveying adulterated ethanol suspected to have been loaded from an illegal source in two separate operations.
The commandant said that the NSCDC had concluded its preliminary investigation, and established that the content of the tankers was ethanol, a consumable biofuel.
She said that since the seized product fell under the purview of NAFDAC, it was pertinent for the command to handover to the Agency for verification, to ascertain identity, quality, composition, and compliance with relevant standards.
“By law and regulatory practice, ethanol and related products fall under the regulatory purview of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC.
“Consequently, we wrote to NAFDAC to authenticate the license and documents presented by the suspect.
“The veracity of the license was confirmed with a request that the product, suspects, and conveying vehicles should be handed over to NAFDAC for necessary regulatory investigation,” Abetianbe said.
Abetianbe said that the exercise was for further investigation and necessary regulatory action in accordance with the provisions of the NAFDAC Act and other extant laws.
Responding on behalf of NAFDAC, the Akwa Ibom Coordinator, Mr. John Naeche, expressed appreciation to NSCDC for the arrest and subsequent handover.
Naeche said NAFDAC would continue to work in synergy with other sister agencies to safeguard the life of Nigerians.
He said that the product would undergo laboratory analysis to know if the ethanol had been contaminated, since it could be used in manufacturing of other products.
“Actually, this is what collaboration is all about. We collaborate to ensure that our citizens get the best,” Naeche said.
He assured that the agency would make the results of the investigation available to NSCDC as soon as it was concluded. (NAN)
