NAFDAC raids Abia market, seizes ‘banned, unregistered’ medicines

February 11, 2025 4:40 pm

File photo of NAFDAC officials

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) says it has taken over the Ariaria International Market in Aba, Abia state, after uncovering “huge” quantities of unregistered and banned medicines.

Omoyeni Babatunde, NAFDAC deputy director of enforcement and federal task force in charge of the south-south/south-east, announced the takeover while speaking with journalists on Tuesday.

Babatunde said the agency confiscated the unregistered and banned medicines at the patent medicine section of the market, adding that no arrest has been made yet.

“Today, people are not in the market. We have taken over and we have been working from shop to shop but no arrest has been made yet,” Babatunde said.

“We have been here at Ariaria since morning and pressmen have covered practically everything we have done here.

“What we have seen here is mind-boggling. We have seen Analgin Injection, Gentamicin 280mg all of which have long been banned by the agency.”

Babatunde noted that the enforcement was in line with the directive of Martins Iluyomade, the agency’s zonal director to uncover unregistered products in the market.

He said that the feat was achieved due to an intelligence from the State Security Service, police and the Nigerian Army, adding that the enforcement was being executed simultaneously at three location in the area.

“If you go through NAFDAC’S mandate critically, you will see that the agency is empowered to enter any premises by force, if need be, when we reasonably suspect contravention of NAFDAC statutory regulations,” he said.

“We have to screen the entire shops because that is the scope we were given and we are being meticulous about it.

“So, one shop after the other, we are going to carry out the operation to the letter.”

The operatives also uncovered a substance suspected to be Crystal Methamphetamine (Mkpuru Mmiri), wrapped with foils like a cigarette and hidden away in small cartons with Epsom Salt labels in one of the shops.