Mohamed Garba
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has destroyed fake, counterfeit, and substandard drugs worth over N1 trillion in Awka, Anambra state capital. The destroyed items included analgin, tramadol, and pediatric pharmaceuticals stored in prohibited areas or banned by the World Health Organization (WHO).
The Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Christiana Mojisola Adeyeye, represented by the Zonal Director, South East, Dr. Martin Iluyomade, emphasized that the closure and raid of the Onitsha Bridge Head Drug Market and the Aba drug market in Abia state was a response to public outcry over the devastating effects of fake and substandard drugs in the South East.
Adeyeye warned that the volume of fake drugs seized was enough to destabilize the country, adding that most of the seized drugs were narcotics linked to crime. He stressed that NAFDAC’s task is to ensure that products are safe for human consumption.
The Managing Director of Anambra State Waste Management Agency (ASMATA), Mr. Mike Ozoemena, commended the Anambra state governor, Prof. Charles Soludo, for his support in the fight against counterfeit drugs.
Ozoemena pledged that the state government would continue to assist NAFDAC in its efforts to combat fake drugs and criminality in the state.
This development comes after NAFDAC evacuated over 100 truckloads of substandard and falsified medicines from major drug markets in Lagos, Anambra, and Abia states. The agency’s Director-General, Mojisola Adeyeye, had warned that if these medicines were allowed to circulate, they could ruin the nation by reducing the quality of life for millions of Nigerians.
