Makers of “Barkas Juice” Arrested, Company Sealed In Badagry
Two Women Arrested As NSCDC Busts Alleged Fake NAFDAC Juice Factory in Badagry
Two women have been arrested by operatives of the Nigeria Security and Civil Defence Corps (NSCDC), Lagos State Command, following the discovery of an alleged illegal juice manufacturing facility in the Aradagun area of Badagry.
The suspects were arrested during a raid on Monday after the NSCDC received actionable intelligence about activities at the facility, where officers allegedly uncovered the production and wholesale packaging of a drink identified as “Barkas Juice.”
The NSCDC said its operatives intercepted quantities of the packaged juice while they were being loaded into container trucks for distribution to major markets across Lagos State.
The Command also said it recovered industrial sugar, adhesives, dyes and other undisclosed colourants used in the production process.
According to the Command’s Public Relations Officer, SC Oluwaseun Abolurin, the investigation also uncovered alleged exploitation of underage workers, with juveniles aged between 15 and 16 reportedly involved in the mixing and packaging of the drinks.
Abolurin said the two women would be prosecuted after the completion of the ongoing investigation.
“The suspects will be charged to a court of competent jurisdiction upon the conclusion of our ongoing investigation,” he said.
The identities of the arrested women have, however, been withheld by the NSCDC for security reasons.
One of the suspects, while speaking to newsmen, disputed the agency’s characterization of the facility as an illegal operation.
She claimed that the business was a family enterprise established by her grandmother nearly two decades ago and said the management had been making efforts to renew its National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) registration.
According to her, the facility does not operate continuously but produces only about three or four times a year when it receives specific orders.
She said the business supplied customers at Oke Arin Market in Lagos and a wholesale distributor in Benin City.
The NSCDC said forensic examination of the materials recovered from the facility and further investigation into its production processes and regulatory status were ongoing.
The agency’s allegations have not been independently verified, while the regulatory status of the facility remains subject to further confirmation.
