On Wednesday, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) destroyed fake and expired goods worth over N500 million in Abuja.
During the exercise, the NAFDAC director-general, Mojisola Adeyeye, stated that some goods were also voluntarily submitted to the agency.
She stated that the exercise is carried out routinely all over the country.
The NAFDAC boss said that the destruction of the products was done to prevent their re-introduction to the supply chain.
Ms Adeyeye listed some of the products destroyed as drugs made up of psychoactive and controlled substances like antibiotics, antihypertensive, antimalarials, herbal snuff and herbal remedies, and drugs confiscated from drug hawkers.
She also listed the food products such as Spaghetti, vegetable oil, and non-alcoholic beverages, including one by 40ft container of unregistered Faurecia instant-powdered milk handed over to the agency by the Nigeria Customs Service.
Others were cosmetics such as creams, lotion, and pomade, including skin lightening creams seized from Spa and beauty centres, chemicals such as fake insecticides and medical devices.
Also destroyed were expired and unwholesome products voluntarily handed over for destruction by compliant companies, non-governmental organisations and the Association of Community Pharmacy of Nigeria (ACPN).
According to the NAFDAC boss, the estimated street value of the products destroyed was N535,000,657.
“I have said on several platforms that drug counterfeiting is an act of economic sabotage, and it also represents a serious threat to public health, and NAFDAC, under my watch, has been repositioned to fight this menace.
“The agency has adopted a proactive approach by engaging political, traditional, faith leaders, journalists and other Nigerians to sensitise their wards on the dangers of dealing with substandard and falsified medicine.
“I wish to use this medium to urge all and sundry to be on the lookout for spurious and counterfeit medicines, unwholesome foods and other regulated products and report the same to NAFDAC,” she said.
(NAN)