The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has incinerated counterfeit, substandard, and fake pharmaceutical products valued at over N1trn at the Anambra State Waste Management Authority Dump Site in Agu Awka, Anambra State.
The haul, including banned substances like Analgin and controlled drugs such as Tramadol 225mg, was confiscated during a month-long enforcement operation targeting major drug markets.
The destruction which happened on Friday, was overseen by NAFDAC’s South-East Zonal Director, Martins Iluyomade, representing Director General Mojisola Adeyeye, followed raids on Onitsha Bridge Head Drug Market (Ogbu-Ogu) and Ekumi/Tenant Road drug market in Aba.
She said, “We have come to realise that the time has come to put an end to the circulation of substandard medicines in Nigeria,”
The director also linked the proliferation of such drugs into society, to national insecurity.
She said, “The volume that we found during this exercise is more than enough to destabilise a country,”
According to Adeyeye, the operation uncovered an array of counterfeit goods, with Adeyeye highlighting the seizure of bulk volumes of narcotics and other medicines that are not approved because of their effect.
She credited the action with saving millions of lives and urged the public to report suspicious products, saying, “When they see something, they should say something.”
Anambra State Waste Management Authority Managing Director Mike Ozoemanam, representing Governor Chukwuma Soludo, praised NAFDAC’s efforts.
He said, “The governor took the bull by the horns because we saw the correlation between the fake drugs and the effect on our youths. We do not want it in Anambra State.”
The agency also commended the media’s role in the fight against fake drugs, calling for continued public support.
