By Ebele Okereke
The popular Onitsha Drug Market in Anambra State has been shut down by the authorities of the National Agency For Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC.
A combined team of the military, police, Department of State Security ( DSS ) officers, NAFDAC enforcement team and officials struck in the early hours of Monday and confiscated some unregistered and adulterated drugs worth millions of naira in the market.
The Zonal Director, National Agency For Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Southeast, Doctor Martins Iluyomade told newsmen that the exercise was part of measure to rid the market of substandard medicines in the country and to safeguard the health of Nigerians.
According to Doctor Iluyomade, a lot of discoveries had been recorded in the market so far, alleging that some traders were packaging dangerous drugs for human consumption.
Doctor Iluyomade noted also that the operation was in line with the agency mandate to eliminate all forms of falsified drugs and the distribution of genuine medicines across the country.
Doctor Iluyomade regretted that some traders prepare empty containers of manufactured drugs like “ambazol and metacrin” with sealed and expiry dates in their shops which they later sale to the unsuspecting members of the public.
He emphasized that the federal government was keen on the kind of drugs people buy, stressing that NAFDAC was ready to sanitize all drug markets in the Southeast and beyond of fake drugs.
He noted that the perpetrators of the adulterated drugs would be identified and prosecuted at the end of the exercise.
The NAFDAC South East Zonal Director told newsmen that there had been a working collaboration with the leadership of the market but regretted that recently the leadership became uncooperative as some NAFDAC officials were molested and beaten up while others were taken to court for performing their legitimate duty.
He advised members of the public to be wary of medicines they consume and ensure they procure drugs only from accredited places, especially checking the manufactured and expiry dates.
Though, the traders were not available during the operation, some of them who spoke with Radio Nigeria expressed disappointment with the agency for not informing them about the operation.
