The police command in Bauchi says it has apprehended five suspects for circulating adulterated fertilisers and herbicides.

The command’s spokesman, Ahmed Wakil, who confirmed the arrest on Wednesday in Bauchi, said the police also sealed three illegal production facilities.

He said personnel of the command monitoring unit, acting on credible intelligence, arrested a suspect at the Bauchi Central Market on May 10.

The spokesman said the operatives recovered six bags of suspected adulterated fertilisers and 46 bottles of fake herbicide from the suspect.

“A subsequent search at his residence in Magaji Quarters yielded incriminating evidence, including sacks of raw materials, charcoal, stoves, a bundle of nylon, and empty herbicide cartons,” he said.

He said operatives of the command also detained one suspect and recovered 44 bags of fake fertilisers during a raid at a shop along Gombe Road.

Mr Wakil said the shop owner claimed to have sourced the raw materials from his accomplice in the Bakaro area of Bauchi metropolis.

“Further investigations led to the arrest of three suspects, who exposed two more illegal factories,” he said.

Mr Wakil added that the operatives recovered 150 bags of adulterated fertilisers, raw materials, tools and machinery used in the illicit operations.

(NAN)