In this report, TOPE SUNDAY and SHUAIB ZAINAB LAMORDE (interns) take a look at why the patronage of drug hawkers is on the rise despite the warnings from the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
For night travellers, drug hawking inside buses is not new and special. For every journey, the hawkers will display their skills and dexterity. They hawk both orthodox and unorthodox medicine with several claims. For the unsuspecting travellers, their claims work and they usually give testimony to the efficacy of their drugs.
From Abuja to Lagos, and from Lagos to other parts of the country, their activities are the same.
But while there are testimonies about the efficacy of the drugs, some people have countered their claims saying that they over-hyped their products. However, Blueprint Weekend can reliably report that their drugs are cheap when considered to be the same quality purchased from a pharmaceutical outlet.
Poverty as a major factor
Investigations by this reporter revealed that some Nigerians patronise roadside drug hawkers because of their cheap products and in most cases, they work for them.
A drug hawker, Kabir Hassan, who spoke to one of our reporters in Abuja, said despite the economic hardship, with N150 or N200 a patient would procure drugs for malaria or painkillers, adding that he sells his drugs based on demand.
He said: “I sell my drugs to customers based on what they request from me. If they want a pack, I will sell it, but usually, they will ask for what can tackle their health condition immediately. Some of them will ask for malaria or painkiller drugs that will give them relief immediately. For instance, with N150 or N200 or less, you will get drugs that will quickly tackle your health challenges like malaria or pains”.
Collaborating Hassan’s claims, a resident of Jahi 2 in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Faith Jonathan, said the lack of purchasing power forced her to patronise drug hawkers because, according to her, their products are cheaper and more considerate.
She claimed that most of the pharmaceutical outlets in the FCT are not selling drugs piecemeal but in sachet or pack which makes it difficult for her likes to patronise them, saying that drugs like paracetamol and panadol are sold for between 250 and 350 in sachet at the pharmacy. According to her, up till now, drug hawkers still sell a dose of paracetamol or panadol for N50 or 70, with other relevant drugs that can be quickly used to tackle malaria.
On his part, Mr. Michael Chukwumobi said drug abusers patronise drug hawkers because of the hardship they are experiencing.
“You know because of the suffering in Nigeria and people take to drugs as a way of escaping their hardship and all that. Most people now feel they can’t go through hardship and suffering in this country without hard drugs, and that is why most times, all these youths feel that drugs are the best way to help them relax their minds and forget about the troubles of the country,” he said.
Parents’ role key
Also speaking, a civil servant, Mrs. Jamila Abubakar, asked the parents to wade in and discourage their wards from patronising roadside drug hawkers just as he asked the government to address the rising spate of unemployment in the country.
She said: “The problem we are facing in drug hawking is a very big one and my opinion is that most of the drugs that our youth patronize and buy from illiterate and semi-literate people are bad. Sometimes we parents have to know who our children are, who they are communicating with, and what they do for a living. From there we will know what our children are into.
“As a citizen of this country we are appealing to the government that they should put more effort into our children to stop this hawking, I know the government is trying. But the danger of drug hawking is bad and dangerous, so we the community, and also the parents should also put a hand in this case. Most of the people hawking drugs lack jobs, and they are desperate and in need of employment. We as parents should improve the living condition of our children because living everything to the government cannot work.”
Repercussions
Also, the Federal High Court sitting in Lagos has convicted and sentenced a woman, Adeola Adetutu, and Godwin Johnson to two years in prison each for hawking Skushies and hard drugs.
Justice Nicholas Oweibo handed down the sentence to the duo after they both pleaded guilty to the separate charges made against them by the National Drug Law Enforcement Agency.
Adetutu was jailed for two years while Johnson was also sentenced to two years imprisonment.
The first convict was arraigned on a count of unlawful dealing in Skushies (an alcoholic drink laced with diazepam, a psychotropic substance similar to cocaine and heroin) while the second convict was arraigned for hawking and unlawful dealing in heroin and methamphetamine.
The prosecutor, M. J. Mamza, told the court that the woman was arrested with the hard drug-laced drink, on June 7, 2023, at 2, Shemoye Street, Adura Bus Stop Alagbado Area, Lagos State.
She also told the court that the man was arrested with the prohibited substances on May 23, 2023, at 123, Railway by Fashina Olateju Street Mushin, Lagos State.
NAFDAC’s warnings
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Tuesday, urged Nigerians to shun sellers of artificial ripening fruits, vegetables, and hawkers of counterfeit and expired drugs as they are unhealthy to the body.
The director-general, NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, gave the warning in Awka, the Anambra state capital, in the South-east NAFDAC’s sensitisation workshop on dangers of drug hawking and ripening of fruits with calcium carbide organised for the Association of Nigeria Health Journalists (ANHJ).
Adeyeye, represented by Dr. Leonard Omokpariola, the director, Chemical Evaluation and Research, also ruled out buying bulk industrial food or food ingredients such as cornflakes, milk, oat, and beverages that are not in retail packs.
According to her, NAFDAC observed that bulk industrial food or ingredients that are not in the retail pack are being sold illegally in our markets, and could be contaminated, hence dangerous to the body.
“These bulk items are openly displayed and measured to unassuming buyers with little or no care from contamination. This market practice is currently being addressed by NAFDAC through monitoring of the utilisation rate and capacity (installed) of end-users to block the gas/leakage of the non-retailed packaged product from being sold in our markets.
“The public is advised not to buy dangerous non-retailed packed items from the market to prevent the risk of taking contaminated, substandard, expired, and adulterated food or food fraud with grave health implications,” she said.
Other speakers, including the acting director, NAFDAC South-east zone, Mr. Collins Ogedengbe, the Director of Investigation and Enforcement NAFDAC, Mr. Francis Ononiwu, and Leonard Omokpariola, also lamented that drug hawking and ripening fruits have not only inflicted diseases and pains on people but also killed many as well.
In opening remarks, the director of public affairs, NAFDAC, Dr. Abubakar Jimoh, stressed that the objective of the training was to recruit journalists to join the agency in sensitising the public on the dangers and challenges posed by drug hawking and ripening of fruits with calcium carbide, while there are natural ways of doing that for improved health.
Drug hawking on the rise despite NAFDAC’s warning
