NSCDC Busts Adulterated Fertilizer Syndicate In Jos, Arrests Five

…Recovers Over 1,000 Diverted Products.

An intelligence quad of the Commandant General of the Nigerian Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has apprehended five suspected members of a syndicate who specialise in adulterating fertilizer products in Jos, Plateau State.

The NSCDC spokesman, Afolabi Babawale, disclosed this on Tuesday.

According to him, the suspects also specialise in the diversion of granular ammonium sulfate, an important raw material in fertilizer production, belonging to the Fertilizer Producers and Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN).

The products are diverted, repackaged, and allegedly sold by the suspects to unsuspecting buyers and farmers at the rate of N25,900 per bag.

“On the 2nd September 2023 at about 1720hrs, the commandant general’s special intelligence squad, acting on a credible intelligence burst two separate locations; No 3, Dogon Dutse area, Jos North and Kasuwa Kara area, Bukuru all in Jos Plateau State and succeeded in recovered large quantities of diverted bags of Granular Ammonium Sulphate (GAS).

“The products are meant to be used for the production of fertilizer and to be sold at subsidized rate to the farmers in the federal government bid to sustain the national food security programme and encourage food production in the country” Babawale narrated.

He explained that the five suspects were arrested from two separate locations, during which a substantial quantity of various fertilizer materials were recovered.

The apprehended suspects have been identified as follows: Ibrahim Muhammed (aged 63), Ladan Anas (aged 26), Umar Said Muhammed (aged 37), Hambale Usman (aged 46), and Junaid Ubale (aged 30).

Among the items seized from them are 740 bags of prohibited granular ammonium sulfate, 24 bags of Dangote Urea fertilizers, 65 bags of indorama fertilizers, 130 bags of NPK Barbados fertilizers, 29 cartons of ultrachol chemical, and 109 units of 20-liter knapsack spraying pumps, alongside other related items.

Babawale also disclosed that the Commandant General of the NSCDC, Ahmed Abubakar Audi, has been briefed on the situation and has promptly ordered the immediate transfer of the five suspects and the case file to the national headquarters of the NSCDC.