A five-man syndicate that specialize in selling adulterated water to banks and other companies in Lagos have been arrested by men of the Lagos State Rapid Response Squad. A statement by the police states that the suspects identified as Chukwuma Uzor, (48) and Ofonime Ikpe (44) and three of their accomplices were arrested at 3, Adesola Street, Ago-Palace Way, Okota in Lagos on Thursday October 22nd following a tip-off.
One of the suspects, Chukwuma Uzor, had worked with a registered water dispensing company but stopped working and decided to connive with some other men to start up a quack water bottling company using his former boss’s brand name. His former boss, Sunday Nnaduaga, who gave the police the tip-off said:
“I just noticed that he just stopped coming to office and efforts to reach him via his mobile phones proved abortive as all his lines were switched off. Sometime ago, a friend of mine hinted me that he saw him distributing dispensable water to our customers mostly banks and other big companies in Lagos. Since that day I started to keep tab on him until I caught him red-handed selling produced water with several registered names in an unkempt environment. Afterwards, I hinted RRS team on patrol which led to the arrest of the two suspects”.
“I decided to use the brand name because it has a ready-made market. We had many customers particularly new generation banks that patronize us. Before now, I had worked as a marketer for him but he was paying me poorly despite all the huge sales I made for him. And, the only way to make my own sales was to use his brand name which is acceptable to many people”. he stated.
“I made a big mistake for allowing him to be producing the water in my factory. I regret aiding and abetting him in committing this heinous crime. He paid me just token from profit he made from the sales”.
Source: Linda Ikeji’s blog
