The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), in a bid to sanitize public health, has condemned fake and expired medical products worth over N15 billion at the Moniya dumpsite in Ibadan, Oyo State.
Representatives from the Nigeria Police Force, Department of State Services, Nigeria Customs Service, Federal Road Safety Corps, Oyo State Ministry of Environment and Natural Resources, Association of Community Pharmacists, and other relevant agencies attended the exercise.
NAFDAC Director General Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, represented by the Director of Investigation and Enforcement, Martins Iluyomade, said the move was part of the agency’s intensified efforts to rid the country of substandard and dangerous products.
The destroyed items included Analgin, Cocodamol, codeine cough syrups, tramadol, oxytocin, falsified vaccines, and other unregistered or counterfeit medicines.
Adeyeye disclosed that NAFDAC recently intercepted a consignment falsely labelled as diclofenac, which was later found to contain anti-malarial drugs worth millions of naira.
She added that enforcement operations also uncovered factories producing cosmetic products illegally within a military barracks in Lagos, while other seizures were made across the country.
Adeyeye commended the Nigeria Customs Service for handing over 25 containers of pharmaceutical products, including tramadol, artesunate injection, and codeine-based syrups, as well as prohibited frozen chicken, all of which were destroyed during the exercise.
Oyo State NAFDAC Director Samuel Adeyemi reiterated the agency’s zero tolerance for substandard and unregulated products and urged members of the public to report suspicious items or dealers. “If you see something, say something,” he said.
