Ladipo Sanusi/
The Managing Director of a popular beverage company, Tasty Time Nigeria Limited, Mr. Isaac Kole, was charged before a Federal High Court, in Lagos today, for allegedly manufacturing fake and unregistered products.
The National Agency for Food Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) arraigned the accused on a four-count charge of producing fake products.
Kole was arraigned alongside his company, Tasty Time Nigeria Limited.
In the charge marked FHC/L/351c/17, NAFDAC alleged that Kole and his company had been using a plant located at 1 Kole Street, Ipaja, in Lagos, to produce unregistered Tasty Time products, which include Tasty Time juice, Glucosaid Energy drink, Tasty Time Pops orange flavoured drink, Tasty Time Fitz Apple drink and Tasty Time mixed orange flavoured drink.
They also allegedly packaged and labelled the products in a manner likely to create a wrong impression that they were genuine.
NAFDAC alleged that the defendants also sold the same unregistered products to the general public.
The offences according to the prosecutor, Mrs. Okon Chinyere, are contrary to sections 1(1), 5(a) and 5(e), and punishable under sections 6(1)(a) and 17(4) of Foods and Drugs and related Products Cap. F33, Laws of the Federation of Nigeria, 2004.
The defendants pleaded not guilty to the charges.
Defense counsel, Dayo Adamolekun, pleaded with the Court to admit his client to bail on self recognizance or on very liberal terms.
Adamolekun hinged his application on his client’s health status, adding that the first defendant is an elder statesman and an employer of labour, who has over 400 employees in his firm.
Furthermore, Adamolekun told the Court that his client’s company had been sealed and the 400 workers are now jobless.
He added that bail was a constitutional right of his client as guaranteed by the constitution of the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
The prosecutor did not oppose the bail application.
She told the Court that the defendant had been on administrative bail granted him by NAFDAC.
In a short ruling, Justice Hadiza Rabiu-Shagari said: “In view of the plea of the defendant and based on his health issue, I will not ask the defendant to go to prison, but continue to enjoy the administrative bail granted him till Monday when I will rule on his bail application.”
The judge, however, ordered the defendant to produce a director either from a Federal or Lagos State Ministry, Parastatal, Department or Agency, who will sign an undertaken to produce him in court on Monday.
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