The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has destroyed counterfeit, expired and substandard consumables worth over N5 billion, confiscated from the North Central states of Nasarawa, Benue, Kogi, Kwara and Niger.

Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, disclosed this on Thursday at the destruction site in Angwan Rere, Lafia, the Nasarawa State capital.

Represented by the Zonal Director of NAFDAC, North-Central Zone, Kenneth Azikwe, the DG said the Agency has the statutory responsibility to enter any premises suspected of producing, stocking, distributing or selling fake, substandard, adulterated, unwholesome or counterfeit products, using force when necessary to confiscate such items and arrest or prosecute any person linked to the offence.

Prof. Adeyeye warned that NAFDAC will not compromise its mandate of ensuring that only quality and safe products are consumed by Nigerians and foreign residents in the country.

She noted that the Agency is intensifying enforcement efforts, including thorough inspection of storage, distribution and sales outlets, while insisting that strictly regulated products must be handled in accordance with Good Distribution and Storage Practices (GDSP) to guarantee safety and quality until they reach the final consumer.

“It is in the course of carrying out our activities in these states that we recovered this large quantity of items now set for destruction. The items you see here are worth over N5 billion, comprising food, drugs, medical devices, detergents, chemicals and others,” she said.

She revealed that some of the products were intentionally hoarded, deliberately concealed, or maliciously revalidated after expiry dates before being displayed for sale by what she described as “unscrupulous merchants of death,” who disguise as businessmen but endanger the lives of unsuspecting Nigerians.

“Some items, however, were voluntarily handed over to the Agency by well-meaning and God-fearing businessmen and women,” she added.

Prof. Adeyeye vowed that the activities of unscrupulous traders would no longer be tolerated under her leadership, stressing that NAFDAC “will not rest on its oars nor leave any stone unturned in our bid to uphold our mandate of safeguarding the health of the nation.”