From Fred Ezeh, Abuja
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said on Sunday that fake and expired products worth N120bn were destroyed in coordinated operations by its officials in the last six months (July-December) across the six geo-political zones and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Abuja.
Resident Media and Communication Consultant to NAFDAC, Sayo Akintola, in a statement, said the officials of the Agency’s Investigation and Enforcement Directorate (I&E), Pharmacovigilance (PV) Directorate, and Post-Marketing Surveillance (PMS) Directorate went on field operations and succeeded in mopping up falsified medicines, fake wines and drinks, and unwholesome food products that could endanger the health of the public during the festive season.
Mr Akintola said that NAFDAC Director General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, had directed that only safe, quality, and wholesome food products should be available to Nigerians during the yuletide and beyond.
He said the NAFDAC boss specifically instructed that those counterfeiting popular brands of rice should be arrested and their products removed from the market, hence the coordinated nationwide operations that yielded the desired result.
“In response to the directive, the Agency’s officials stormed supermarkets in major cities across the country such as Lagos, Port Harcourt, Aba, Ibadan, Kaduna, and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), to apprehend manufacturers and merchants of fake drugs and unwholesome foods, while products running into billions of naira were confiscated in the last three months of renewed enforcement.
“In November, the Agency seized N300m worth of fake medicines during a raid of the tyre village at the Trade Fair Complex in Lagos State. On Wednesday, December 11, 2024, the Agency destroyed expired, unregistered drugs worth N11bn in Ibadan, Oyo State.
“Officers of the Agency also burst counterfeit alcohol packaging centres and seized items worth N2bn in Lagos. This followed reports of illegal revalidation of expired alcoholic beverages at the Trade Fair Complex in Lagos.
“The war against substandard and falsified medicines and unwholesome food and drinks moved to Nasarawa State, where officers of the Agency, led by the Director of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) Directorate, Mr Kenneth Azikiwe, stormed the Karu market situated at the border between FCT and Nasarawa State, where bags of repackaged expired rice were confiscated by the Agency. Products worth about N5bn were seized during the raid.
“Also, in Nasarawa State, the Agency sealed a factory and eight shops for packaging and distributing counterfeit rice, valued at approximately ₦5bn. The operation, conducted on December 19, targeted a facility named Ninjur Ventures on Abacha Road, Karu.
“At Wuse and Garki markets in Abuja, last Friday, the Agency confiscated over 1,600 bags of counterfeit rice worth about N5bn, where counterfeit rice was being repackaged in branded bags.
“Simultaneously, a total of 150 shops at Eziukwu Market in Aba, a suburb of Abia State, were shut down following an operation by the Agency. As the mop-up operation was going on in the FCT and Nasarawa State, NAFDAC was carrying out a two-day operation in the Aba market on December 16 and 17, 2024.
“During the operation, the Agency uncovered large-scale production and distribution of fake and expired goods, including beverages, carbonated drinks, wines, spirits, vegetable oils, and revalidated food items such as noodles, powdered milk, and yoghurt with a market value of N5bn.
“The Agency, on Wednesday, December 11, 2024, also destroyed expired, unregistered, counterfeit, and smuggled products valued at ₦10bn. The destroyed items, collected from five states in the Southwest Zone (excluding Lagos) and Kwara State in the North Central Zone due to its proximity, were destroyed in Ibadan.”
Mr Akintola stated that NAFDAC will not rest on its oars until the merchants of death are forced out of operation, promising that the Agency will make it hard for them to operate freely and endanger the health of innocent consumers.
“The coming year will be tough for those who prioritise money over the wellbeing of their fellow human beings by compromising the quality of medicines and food products in the country,” he said.
He urged consumers to consistently scrutinise medicines and branded drinks carefully to distinguish genuine products from counterfeits before consumption. “NAFDAC wishes to advise that members of the public should be vigilant during this yuletide season.
“We appeal to Nigerians to buy only NAFDAC-registered drinks from reputable and licensed retailers, bars, and supermarkets. If the product is being sold well below its normal price, or doesn’t seem to include normal taxes on liquors, then it is probably fake. Check for poor-quality packaging, spelling mistakes, and unusually shaped bottles,” he suggested.