A truckload of substandard vegetable oil was intercepted in Akure, the Ondo State capital, by officials of the Department of State Services, DSS, and the Standards Organisation of Nigeria, SON.
The syndicate, which specialises in repackaging and rebranding of suspected substandard vegetable oil was busted by both agencies in an enforcement exercise, following receipt of classified information from concerned stakeholders in the state.
Oil
Some of the items recovered from the illegal factory situated along Irese Road, near Orange FM Station in Akure, were thousands of jerry cans of different capacities and popular brands as well as two surface storage tanks of about 15,000 litres capacity each, according to the SON, Ondo State Coordinator, Engr. Paul Oke.
Speaking on behalf of the Director General, SON, Osita Aboloma, Engr. Oke stated that the agency benefited from the existing robust collaboration with the DSS to carry out surveillance activities that led to the eventual arrest of the leader of the syndicate, who he said has been in the business for the past four years.
Preliminary investigations, according to the SON state Coordinator, revealed that the suspect has no evidence of company registration, disclosing that samples of the suspected substandard vegetable oil have been taken for laboratory tests and analysis while the truck and suspect are in custody of the DSS for further investigation to apprehend other collaborators and the source of the truck’s consignment.
