Man bags 4 years over sale of adulterated fertilizer

A Gombe State High Court yesterday sentenced one Usman Adamu Shagari to four years, six months imprisonment over sale of adulterated fertilizer to unsuspecting customers. The convict, Shagari was dragged before the court by the Gombe Zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a six-count charge bordering on sale and production […]

A Gombe State High Court yesterday sentenced one Usman Adamu Shagari to four years, six months imprisonment over sale of adulterated fertilizer to unsuspecting customers.

The convict, Shagari was dragged before the court by the Gombe Zonal office of the Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC) on a six-count charge bordering on sale and production of adulterated fertilizer.

The court was told that the convict was arrested sometimes in July 2019 in Gombe following intelligence report that he was into the production and sale of adulterated fertilizer to farmers in Gombe and Bauchi states.

According to the EFCC, the convict and his accomplice were said to be buying genuine fertilizer from recognised companies, after which they mixed the product with sand and thereafter sold same as genuine to innocent farmers, by putting it in a printed bags of the original companies.

The commission told the court that its operatives swung into action and raided three illegal factories located at Lariski village in Alkaleri LGA of Bauchi State and Gombe metropolis, where the said adulterated fertilizer is manufactured.

The court further heard that over 600 bags of the adulterated fertilizer were seized by the commission during the raid.

When the convict appeared before the court, he pleaded guilty to the six count charge preferred against him. However, his alleged accomplices, Idris Ali, Muhammad Alhassan Alaramma, Dahiru Salisu and Adamu Abdurahman pleaded not guilty.