THE Chief Executive Officer of Chigodson International Company Limited, Sunday Chibuike, producer of Japata Alcoholic Bitters, has been arrested for allegedly using Indian hemp to produce the bitters at Ayobo, in the Ayobo-Ipaja LCDA of Alimosho LGA, where the factory is located.
P.M.EXPRESS reports that the CEO, Chibuike, was arraigned before a Lagos Federal High Court for producing, distributing, selling, and dealing in an unregistered alcoholic drink, named Japata.
The defendants, Chibuike and his company, were arraigned alongside one Ekpendu Chizurumoke, on a six-count charge by the National Agency for Food Drug Administration And Control (NAFDAC), before the Court presided over by Justice Yelim Bogoro.
The prosecutor told the court that defendants were producing the said alcoholic drink by mixing adulterated drinks with marijuana, but deceitfully labelled it with another product’s label in order to give the wrong impression that the alcoholic drink is an original one.
However, the defendants pleaded not guilty when they were arraigned.
Presiding Judge, Justice Bogoro, after listening to both the prosecutor and the defence lawyer, adjourned the matter to September 9, 2023, for trial and ordered that the defendants be remanded in the custody of the Nigerian Correctional Services (NCoS).
Meanwhile, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) in August 2022 said the content of Japata Alcoholic Bitters in circulation is more harmful than the one submitted for testing and registration.
NAFDAC revealed this in a statement, advising Nigerians to be watchful of the products they consume.
It was not the first time NAFDAC would be raising concerns over Japata, an alcoholic drink produced by Chigodson International Company Ltd., in four months.
“An alcoholic bitters product that is of grave concern is Japata Alcoholic bitters, which was duly registered by NAFDAC but laced with marijuana or cannabis compared to the registered product that had only ethanol. Through intelligence, NAFDAC was able to shut down the company. This product, when tested in the laboratory, caused the death of the mice within five minutes,” NAFDAC wrote on its website.
