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By Daniel Adaji
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has accused a fake drug cartel of sponsoring incitement against the federal government’s enforcement operations in Onitsha drug market.
NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, said in a statement on Monday that a social media influencer is being used to spread false information and stir up resistance among traders.
“The cartel, along with their co-conspirators, are the ones creating incitements to divert attention from the real issues to escape the long arm of the law for the heinous crimes being committed against humanity,” she said.
She added that the influencer’s videos may constitute a breach of the Cybercrime Act.
“What this perpetrator has done is that he has openly told his audience to defy the regulatory processes of NAFDAC,” Adeyeye said.
She noted that law enforcement agencies will determine if any laws have been broken.
The agency recently carried out raids between February 9 and March 27 in three major open drug markets in Idumota, Aba, and Onitsha.
“Banned, expired, falsified, substandard narcotic medicines worth more than a trillion Naira were removed and subsequently destroyed,” the statement said.
NAFDAC said none of the warehouses and shops in these markets met the minimum standards of Good Storage and Distribution Practices, and that they were not registered with the Pharmacy Council of Nigeria, which is a legal requirement.
Following state government intervention, traders were given a moratorium to relocate to Coordinated Wholesale Centres with proper monitoring.
The Onitsha market reopened on March 9 with over 2,500 traders and 3,500 shops complying with regulatory procedures.
However, “the remaining few shops whose owners have refused to come forward for identification are the ones with outrightly banned narcotics according to our database,” Adeyeye stated.
NAFDAC warned the public to ignore false narratives and continue their legitimate business activities.
“All law-abiding citizens are enjoined to go about their legitimate businesses while the merchants of death who are responsible fuelling insecurity and peddling of fake medicines in Nigeria will be fished out and dealt with in accordance with the law,” the agency said.
She reaffirmed NAFDAC’s commitment to safeguarding public health by ensuring that all regulated medical products in Nigeria remain safe, effective, and of good quality.
“NAFDAC is working within the purview of her mandate,” Adeyeye said.