Traders Arrested for Using Insecticide to “Preserve” Beans in Lagos

The Lagos State Police on Wednesday paraded three siblings – Faith, Sunday, and Chidioke Ogbonna – who are beans traders on Adenekan Street, in the Alagbado area of the state, for allegedly spraying “Sniper”, an insecticide on their goods.


PUNCH reports that they were arrested after a woman, on seeing Chidioke applying Sniper to the beans, reported to police officers at the Alagbado Division.
Police got to the shop on Friday and arrested 18-year old Chidioke. Faith was arrested when he got to the shop upon receiving information that police officers were there.
Chidioke told journalists that he felt the insecticide will be good for preservation of the beans, as it will kill the weevil in them.

“I just saw it (Sniper) as something that kills insects and decided to use it to preserve the beans and kill the insects therein. I was applying the chemical for the first time when a woman approached me and warned that it was dangerous.
A few minutes after, some policemen came to arrest me. My brother (Faith) was not around when I put the Sniper in the beans,” Chidioke said.

The police paraded them with some bags of the “poisonous beans” and some bottles of the insecticide recovered from the shop.
The state Police Commissioner, Fatai Owoseni, who paraded the suspects said Sunday got to their station in Alagbado on Sunday and tried to bribe the DPO with N500,000 to secure his brothers’ release.
Sunday, however denied the bribery allegation, adding that he had never used Sniper on the beans. He however, said that his suppliers in Maiduguri mix insecticides with water and spray it on the beans to “preserve” it.

“I wasn’t around when my brother was caught putting Sniper in the beans. I was called on the telephone and I quickly returned to Lagos from Ibadan (Oyo State), where I had gone for a function. Sunday came to my shop when he learnt some policemen were there and he was also arrested.
Chidioke just came back from our village. He had never seen me put Sniper in beans. In Maiduguri, if my suppliers wanted to preserve beans, they put DD Force or Sniper in water and spray it on the beans. It will be stored for about three or six months, depending on the quantity of chemicals applied.
I have never mixed beans with chemicals, but I have been buying the one with chemicals from Maiduguri. If it is stored for a long time, it is not dangerous for human consumption.
I don’t preserve my beans with Sniper. I normally buy the quantity I can sell before insects infest it,” he said.

Owoseni said as soon as investigation is complete, the suspects will be arraigned.