The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said it evacuated over 100 truckloads of substandard, falsified, and banned medicines and narcotics from Idumota market in Lagos State, Onitsha market in Anambra state, and Aba market in Abia state, in six weeks.
This was revealed in a press statement on Sunday signed by the Resident Consultant of the agency, Sayo Akintola.
The Director General of NAFDAC, Prof Moji Adeyeye, said if the substandard and banned medicines were allowed in circulation, they could ruin the nation by reducing the quality of life of millions of Nigerians.
Adeyeye made the remarks in Lagos on Friday at a briefing while giving an update on the unprecedented enforcement exercise carried out in the three markers where unregistered, banned, expired or medicines with other violations worth over a trillion naira were confiscated.
She further disclosed that the agency concluded the enforcement exercise in Idumota and Aba on February 28, 2025, while the exercise still lingered in Onitsha until March 8.
“What we have found could ruin a nation. What we have found could destabilise a government. What we have found could reduce quality of life of millions of Nigerians,” she said, adding that “If you have diabetes, hypertension, which need daily treatment, such people could die easily with what we have found.”
The NAFDAC boss stated that with a large population of Nigerian youth below 40, the narcotics seized could take their lives, fuel banditry, and terrorism.
“Overall, she said over 100 40-footer truckloads were evacuated with 27 truckloads from Idumota, already destroyed while in Aba and Onitsha markets about 80 40-foot truckloads of unregistered, banned medicines and narcotics were seized and evacuated.
“For Aba and environ, she disclosed that 14 truckloads of violative medicines were evacuated from the Osisioma warehouse alone, four truckloads from the Ariara Road warehouse and ten truckloads of the medicines were seized from the markets.
“According to her, in Onitsha, there are 110 lines where they sell drugs, aside from the plumbing market, and the wood plank markets. From the plumbing section, Prof Adeyeye explained that warehouses were filled to the brim, without windows, with temperature more than 40 degrees Celsius, subjecting the medicines to degradation before the user starts to use them. In that plumbing section, we knew through intelligence, three or four years ago, that something was going on there, adding that we were there with our police, and our staff and police narrowly escaped death,” the statement noted.
Adeyeye explained that the merchants of death, masquerading as medicine dealers among the shop owners, mobbed the police and NAFDAC staff to protect their illicit trade.
She added that about seven months ago at the Onitsha market, NAFDAC staff went on intelligence, and they almost killed two of them.
“They bloodied them, bleeding. This is the hazard that we go through every time in NAFDAC,” she said.
She said the agency evacuated ten 40-foot truckloads of tramadol from the plumbing, wood plank and the fashion lines of the market, also noting with dismay that about four truckloads of syrup with codeine that was banned almost seven years ago were also evacuated.
She, however, emphasised that the agency needed to conduct the enforcement in the markets with the purpose of saving the lives of Nigerians and fostering trade.
“NAFDAC is doing this first for public health, secondly to foster trade, and thirdly to reduce the scourge on our country,” she added.
