NAFDAC raids Anambra market, seizes fake drugs

The well-known Ogbo-Ogu Market in Bridge Head, Onitsha, Anambra State, was the site of the National Agency for Food, Drug Administration, and Control's enforcement action on Monday.

The agency's agents, under the direction of Dr. Martins Iluyomade, Director, NAFDAC South East Zone, seized a variety of tainted, inferior, and expired medications from the several stores throughout the exercise.

Speaking to reporters, Iluyomade stated that the operation was in keeping with the agency's mission to stop the sale of counterfeit, prohibited, and other phoney NAFDAC-regulated goods in Nigeria and to keep the general people from becoming victims.

He added that the exercise that resulted in the seizure of the numerous counterfeit and prohibited goods was a coordinated effort conducted concurrently throughout all of the South-East states and that the agency was collaborating with the market task force on it.

"We are starting our enforcement at the Ogbo-Ogu market today," he stated. We have been collecting information and intelligence on counterfeit and subpar medications in the market for a while, and when we reached the end of the process, we found that people were repackaging and rebagging these drugs. This is what started the exercise.

"The exercise aims to raid the markets of substandard and fake drugs, as well as those that are composed of unwholesome processed goods, a number of other dangerous regulated drugs, and spurious, counterfeit, and falsified medicinal products."

This is happening concurrently throughout the South-East states, and its goal is to clean up the drug markets and protect the health of the general populace.

Among the medications are recalled, deflective, subpar, outdated, prohibited, and repackaged goods. In order to trick gullible members of the public, we discovered that certain drug dealers have a practice of copying well-known medications and putting them in actual manufacturer containers.

Additionally, these medications are extremely sensitive and may cause the user to die or become permanently disabled. The items' seizure would remove the possibility of their reintroduction into the market and serve as evidence of the agency's commitment to protecting public health.

He urged the people to only visit authorised and registered drug stores, noting that security personnel, the agency's investigative team, and other interested parties are on the ground keeping an eye on things and making sure the enforcement process runs well.

When questioned about the approximate monetary value of the seized goods, Iluyomade responded that it was a continuous process that could only be ascertained at its conclusion.

Among the items discovered in the market to have been faked and counterfeited included antibiotics, anti-hypertensive, anti-diabetic, anti-asthmatic, aphrodisiacs, antimalarial, anti-inflammatory, herbal remedies and psychoactive drugs.
Others included regulated substances, alcoholic and non-alcoholic beverages, cosmetics, chemicals, unwholesome food, empty plastics, bags, and cans, analgesics, tramadol (more than 100 mg), gentamycin (280 mg), codeine, and other prohibited substances.

The market task force, market leaders, representatives of several trade unions, and other important players were also present for the exercise.