The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Gombe State government have raised the alarm over poisonous wheat circulating in large quantities in the state.
NAFDAC, in a joint press briefing with the state government, yesterday, disclosed that they were able to intercept and impound several bags of the produce meant for distribution in the state.
According to the state coordinator of NAFDAC, James Agada, the ridiculous price of between N200 and N400 per bag at which the produce was sold as against the normal price of between N800 and N1,000 attracted the attention of its officials.
Agada added that consequently, undercover officials of the agency discovered that those behind the distribution of the poisonous produce used Central Bank of Nigeria’s (CBN) Anchor Borrower’s scheme-labelled bags to bag the produce before selling to unsuspecting farmers and households for either planting or consumption.
He said the produce had been sprayed with pesticides and fungicide, “thus not edible.”
“We are here to alert the public that some unscrupulous individuals have pushed chemically treated wheat into the market at a very ridiculous price; their targets are farmers and households. We have sealed one Ahmadu Adamu’s shop where we found over 80 bags,” he said.
