Fake, substandard, expired, and unwholesome regulated products valued at N4.2 billion were destroyed by the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) yesterday in Awka, Anambra State.
The Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, represented by the agency’s Director of Investigation and Enforcement, Mr. Francis Nzeribe Ononiwu, said the public destruction of the pharmaceuticals would minimize the chance of their recirculation into the Nigerian market.
She stated that the destruction of the counterfeit commodities demonstrates NAFDAC’s determination to protect the nation’s health and ensure that only authentic medications and nutritious foods of the highest quality are imported, exported, produced, issued, and sold in Nigeria.
Adeyeye stated that two people have been convicted and sentenced to five years in prison in Anambra State in 2021 and 2022 for counterfeiting medications and edible items.
Adeyeye, who described drug counterfeiting as an act of economic sabotage that is inimical to public health, heaped praise on the Investigation and Enforcement Directorate of Asaba, Delta State, for making several forfeitures of controlled and banned narcotics and counterfeit and fake products being produced and sold by nefarious individuals, which is detrimental to public health.
In attendance at the event were all the state coordinators of NAFDAC in the two zones, namely: Anambra, Delta, Edo, Enugu, Imo, Abia, Cross River, Akwa-Ibom, and Bayelsa, including the deputy director of the South-East zone, Collins Ogedengbe.
