NAFDAC destroys fake, expired drugs, others worth over ₦10 billion in Kano

The National Agency for Food Administration and Control NAFDAC has destroyed over 618 tonnes of fake,counterfeit and expired drugs and other unwholesome regulated products worth ten billion one hundred and ninety million nine hundred and ten thousand three hundred and thirty eight naira (₦10,190,910,338) at Kalibawa destruction site along Kano-Daura highway.

The substandard goods were seized from the 7 Northwestern states of Kano,Kaduna, Katsina, Kebbi,Jigawa,Sokoto and Zamfara.

NAFDAC Director General Professor Mojisola Adeyeye said the destruction is a definitive statement that
the era of impunity by unscrupulous elements endangering the lives of Nigerian through fake
and dangerous products is over.

The DG represented by Nantim Dadi Mullah, Director Northwest zone, said regulatory authority and mandate of
NAFDAC is to safeguard public health and ensure that every food, drug, cosmetic,
medical device, and chemical products in Nigerian meet
stringent standards of safety, efficacy, and quality.

The destruction exercise,she said, is also a
clear warning to manufacturers,
importers, distributors, and retailers that enforcement mechanisms
are robust and surveillance systems are sophisticated to detect any unwholesome practice.

The items destroyed include counterfeit antibiotics, antihypertensives, antimalarials,
analgesics, herbal remedies, and controlled psychoactive substances that
pose grave risks to patients.

Others are adulterated vegetable oils, contaminated beverages,
unsafe sachet water, substandard condiments, and falsified tomato
pastes.

Agrochemicals including fake insecticides, pesticides, and other hazardous cosmetics were also destroyed.

Kano State Governor Abba Kabir Yusuf, represented by Director Pharmaceutical Services in the state Ministry of Health Kamilu Yakasai, commended NAFDAC for the destruction saying there is the tendency of the return of goods back to the markets if not destroyed .

Representatives of NDLEA,Police,Customs,DSS, Pharmaceutical Society of Nigeria,National Association of Proprietary and Patent Medicine Dealers NAPPMED and other stakeholders witnessed the destruction exercise.