The National Agency for Food Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Friday set on fire pharmaceutical products and drugs worth N1 trillion discovered to be fake, counterfeits and substandard.
The NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, who performed the function at Anambra sate Dumpsite in Awka, said the drugs were seized from Onitsha and Aba (Abia state) during the one-month enforcement exercise which was held across markets.
Adeyeye, represented by the South-east Director of the agency, Dr. Martins Iluyomade, said most of the recovered products included drugs banned since 2008, including analgesic, narcotics, and tramadol.
“You can imagine how many people could have died or suffer system failure if they had taken these substandard medicines. This was huge and homogenous, one of the highest so far. This could be why Nigeria has recorded many number of maternal mortality in recent time. Allowing these types of drugs in the market constitutes health hazards and security threat to the nation,” she said.
Earlier speaking, Governor Chukwuma Soludo, represented by the Managing Director of Anambra State Waste Management Agency (ASWAMA), Mr. Mike Ozoemena, commended NAFDAC for the exercise, saying it was in line with the administration’s effort to get rid of insecurity, crimes and other unhealthy acts from the state.