{"id":75009,"date":"2025-09-05T14:42:49","date_gmt":"2025-09-05T14:42:49","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/?p=75009"},"modified":"2025-09-05T14:42:49","modified_gmt":"2025-09-05T14:42:49","slug":"footballer-arrested-in-abuja-for-running-fake-chemical-factory","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/2025\/09\/05\/footballer-arrested-in-abuja-for-running-fake-chemical-factory\/","title":{"rendered":"Footballer Arrested in Abuja for Running Fake Chemical Factory"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><strong>By Onyeanya Ebere Immaculata<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has arrested a local footballer, Mr. Ikechukwu Elijah, for allegedly operating an illegal chemical factory in the Apo-Waru area of Abuja and distributing hazardous, unregistered products to the public.<\/p>\n<p>In a statement on Friday, NAFDAC\u2019s Deputy Director of Public Relations and Protocol, Mr. Adegboyega Osiyemi, said Elijah was caught counterfeiting popular brands of insecticides and other chemicals in a residential building. His younger brother was also arrested during the raid.<\/p>\n<p>The operation, led by Mr. Embugushiki Godiya of NAFDAC\u2019s Investigation and Enforcement Directorate and the Federal Taskforce on Counterfeit and Substandard Medicines and Unwholesome Processed Foods, uncovered sealing machines, high-capacity cylinders, large chemical containers, and finished products valued at over N60 million.<\/p>\n<p>Elijah, who initially denied involvement, confessed after a search of the premises.<\/p>\n<p>In a related operation, NAFDAC sealed MZEE Table Water, an illegal factory in Damangaza, Abuja, producing packaged water under unsanitary conditions with an expired and fake license.<\/p>\n<p>The facility lacked essential certification, including a certified borehole and water treatment system.<\/p>\n<p>Further investigations led the taskforce to a shopping plaza opposite the World Trade Centre in Abuja\u2019s Central Business District, where counterfeit rice and packaging materials were seized.<\/p>\n<p>The items were allegedly being used to re-bag popular brands for unsuspecting consumers.<\/p>\n<p>NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, commended enforcement officers for their vigilance and urged Nigerians to avoid unverified products, stressing that counterfeit goods pose a major risk to public health, consumer safety, and the economy. She assured that all suspects would be prosecuted.<\/p>\n<p>The agency reaffirmed its commitment to intensifying nationwide crackdowns on fake food, chemicals, beverages, and medicines as part of efforts to restore public confidence in regulated products.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>By Onyeanya Ebere Immaculata &nbsp; The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has arrested a local footballer, Mr. Ikechukwu Elijah, for allegedly operating an illegal chemical factory in the Apo-Waru area of Abuja and distributing hazardous, unregistered products to the public. In a statement on Friday, NAFDAC\u2019s Deputy Director of Public [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":33,"featured_media":75010,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[181,172],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-75009","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-crime","category-news"],"aioseo_notices":[],"amp_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75009","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/33"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=75009"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75009\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":75011,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/75009\/revisions\/75011"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/75010"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=75009"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=75009"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/abujacityjournal.com\/livenews\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=75009"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}