NSCDC Busts Adulterated Fertilizer Products Syndicate in Jos

FAMILIARISATION TOUR… Minister of Interior, Olubunmi Tunji-Ojo (right), and the Commandant General, Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Ahmed Abubakar Audi, during a familiarisation visit to the headquarters of the NSCDC in Abuja…recently

Determined to thwart notorious moves by saboteurs who are hell-bent on sabotaging federal government policies and efforts in ensuring adequate provision of fertilizers to farmers in the country, the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC) has apprehended five suspects, who are alleged to be members of a syndicate which specialises in the diversion of granular ammonium sulphate, the key raw material in the production of fertilizer.

A statement issued yesterday by the spokesman of the NSCDC, Afolabi Babawale, disclosed that the five suspects were arrested by the special intelligence squad of the commandant-general of the agency.

He noted that the diverted granular ammonium sulphate, used in the production of fertilizer, is a property of the Fertilizer Producers and Suppliers Association of Nigeria (FEPSAN), but was diverted, bagged, and sold by the saboteurs to unsuspected buyers and farmers at the rate of N25,900 per bag.

Babawale said: “On September 2, 2023, at about 1720hrs, the commandant-general’s special intelligence squad, acting on a credible intelligence busted two separate locations, No 3, Dogon Dutse area, Jos North, and Kasuwa Kara area, Bukuru, all in Jos Plateau State, and succeeded in recovering large quantities of diverted bags of granular ammonium sulphate (GAS). The product is meant to be used for the production of fertilizer and to be sold at a subsidised rate to the farmers, in the federal government bid to sustain the national food security programme and encourage food production in the country.”