A 34-year-old
man, David Egbenagu Ozoemenam, has expressed anger over his arrest by
operatives of the Inspector-General of Police Special Intelligence Response
Team (IRT) for allegedly manufacturing and selling poisonous alcoholic drinks
in Lagos State.
Ozoemenam, a
Primary School Certificate Holder, said that instead of accusing him of
manufacturing and selling poisonous alcoholic drinks, police and government
should be looking for ways to assist him to improve his brewing business, so
that he could become an employer of labour.
According to
the police, the suspect was arrested for manufacturing alcoholic drinks and
wine with fake NAFDAC number. They alleged that consumption of the drinks by
the suspect’s customers must have landed many in hospitals.
A police
source revealed that Ozoemenam was placed under surveillance following a public
outcry over the health hazards allegedly caused by the alcohol, wine and other
beverages under the suspect’s brand called, “Stock.”
The source
further said: “Majority of the consumers are street urchins, who graduated into
cultists, armed robbers, kidnappers, ritual killers and human traffickers,
thereby destroying youths and increasing the crime rate in the areas through
what they consumed. It was based on those and other factors that the IGP,
Mohammed Adamu, following a petition, ordered a Deputy Commissioner of Police
(DCP), Abba Kyari, to look into the matter. Kyari got in touch with the IRT
Southwest coordinator, a Chief Superintendent of Police (CSP), Philip Rieninwa and
investigation began in earnest. Rieninwa led a special team to survey, trail
and discover factories that manufacture such drinks.”
The source
further explained that the police were only able to penetrate Ozoemenam’s
company by posing as prospective buyers and distributors. It was after they
gained access into the factory that they were able to monitor production
process and found it wanting.
The IRT
Operatives, one day, trailed him to the markets, where he buys empty bottles
for his drinks and ingredients for mixing and arrested him as he was driving
back to his factory.
The
operatives took him to his factory and confiscated some of the drinks. The
police also took pictures of the substandard tools and machines he uses in
manufacturing the drinks.
Ozoemenam,
married with three children, said: “I used to sell wine and beverages before I
ventured into manufacturing of alcohol, wine and beverages. I’m the owner of
the house I am using as residence and factory.
My brand
name is ‘Stock’ and I manufacture stock gins and brandy. The ingredients I use
are food grade ethanol, brand flavour, caramel, glucose syrup and treated
water.
I don't have
NAFDAC number because at the time I started this manufacturing business, I had
financial problem. I couldn’t pay for NAFDAC number. Moreover, customers don't
know the difference between genuine NAFDAC number and a fake. They feel it is a
waste of time to check.”
While
explaining how easy it was to produce a drink, Ozoemenam cited example of
Chelsea drinks.
He said: “If
you get something like a bottle of Chelsea, you’ll see the ingredients used to manufacture
it on its label. If you get all the ingredients and mix them, you’ll at the end
produce Chelsea drinks.”
He added: “People,
who get problem from alcoholic drinks or wine, are those who abuse such drinks.
These are people, who take drinks which their bodies do not need. Others are
those who, when they see free drinks, drink to stupor. Even water disturbs when
taken too much.”
The suspect,
who said that he stopped his education at primary six because of finance,
described himself as, “a very brilliant person.”
Ozoemenam came
to Lagos in 1999 and stayed with Daniel Okafor as his apprentice. Ozoemenam
explained that it was Okafor, who taught him the rudiments of buying and
selling of alcoholic drinks and wine. He learnt the trade for six years.
He, however,
added: “But nobody taught me how to manufacture wine, alcohol and
beverages. Nobody had ever complained of my products. People like my
products and some people, who are in the same business, are not happy because
of my rapid progress, hence, they started giving out bad and unfounded
information about me. What I produce is not a fake! Fake is the imitation of another
person’s drink. What I produced is Stock Gin, Stock Brandy and Stock Rose Berg.
They are not harmful. Stock is my own product, although it is not registered. My
enemies are just envious and trying to put me out of work.”
Asked why
some of his cans of drinks swell, Ozoemenam replied: “What makes it to swell at
times is high temperature. What is inside the drink is herb sample. If you
notice any change like swelling, it is not well heated in fire.
The ones
that were well heated don't swell like that. The company we buy flavour for
mixing the drinks is situated at Opebi Roundabout. The owner, Dr. Harry, has a
Doctorate Degree (Phd) in Chemistry. We go to him for advice. Anything we don't
know, we go to him. Companies that sell ingredients to us usually ask us what
we want to produce. They give us the measurement of every item required for the
production.”
On how he
was arrested, Ozoemenam said: "I buy bottles from roadside because I can’t
afford going to a manufacturing company. If I go to such a company, I’ll have
to pay N40million. I don’t have that kind of money. Government is supposed to
assist me because I can become an employer of labour. My product is not
harmful! If it was, it would have killed me. I used to test it during
production.
“I don't
have NAFDAC number because at the time I started this business, I had financial
problem and I could not pay for NAFDAC number. Moreover, customers don't know
the difference between genuine NAFDAC number and fake. They feel it is a waste
of time to check the number in NAFDAC office. Even NAFDAC officials don't take
time to check the number they issue to people. The worse are customers who take
any number they see as NAFDAC number.”
He noted
that his company has been registered with Corporate Affairs Commission. “I use
four rooms in my house as factory to manufacture stock products. I started manufacturing
in September 2019. When I was selling wine and beverages, I was making cool
money. I used to make N150, 000 monthly. At a point, the business was no longer
profitable due to differences in dollar exchange. Naira lost its value to a
point that N1, 000,000 may not be up to N300, 000. It affected buying and selling badly, although
I have built a house in my village and another in Lagos from buying and selling
hot drinks and beverages.”
On what made
him to abandon buying and selling for manufacturing, he said: “When I saw that
two of my colleagues, especially Innocent Iloabuchi, who went into
manufacturing of drinks, were doing well, I decided to try my hands on manufacturing
to see if I could become rich like them. I told my wife and she advised me to
go ahead.
When I
started, I went to Ojota to get the materials I had earlier mentioned. I
started mixing them based on what I copied from companies that manufacture hot drinks,
wine and beverages. When I want to manufacture gin, I would get a bottle
of Chelsea and copy the percentage of the ingredients as written on its label
and it will be fine and correct when I use the same percentage to
manufacture mine. At times, I get advice from the companies that sell the
ingredients to me, including the measurement and the correct percentage.”
On how he got
empty bottles with which he uses in bottling the drinks, he responded: "I
used to buy empty bottles from market. I don't even have a laboratory where I
can test the ingredients to know the one that has expired because all these
things require money. I print labels in Ojo Barracks. There is one man called
Ojo, who has his office right inside the Army Barracks. He is the person that
prints for me. A sheet costs N40 and nobody disturbs him because people are
afraid to go inside army barracks to question him.
“I have a Sienna
car which I use to supply goods to my customers within Iyano-Oba area of
Lagos, just to avoid having a confrontation with NAFDAC officials. But I have a
trade mark which is Stock. I had earlier planned to register my products before
I started manufacturing, but I had financial constraint. Manufacturing alcoholic
drinks and wine is more profitable than buying and selling. You can manufacture
millions of bottles of hot drinks and wine and it is not as strenuous as buying
and selling.”
Arguing that
his products were not harmful, Ozoemenam said: “There is no health hazard in
what I manufacture because I used to test it myself before supplying. The
ingredients are used to to specification and standard. Nobody has died or gone
to psychiatric hospital after taking my products.”
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