The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) on Sunday disclosed it has taken delivery of 15 containers of substandard and falsified pharmaceutical products and tomato paste imported through Onne Port in Port-Harcourt.
NAFDAC, in a press statement, signed by its Resident Media Consultant, Sayo Akintola, noted that the fake products are “Estimated to have the street value of N20.5bn.”
The agency said the consignment, which comprised 11 containers of various unregistered, banned pharmaceutical products, as well as four containers of unwholesome tomato paste, was handed over at Onne Port, Port-Harcourt, on Saturday, August 2 to the Director-General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, by the Comptroller-General of Nigeria Customs Service, Bashir Adewale Adeniyi, as part of the institutional collaborative synergy between the two organizations.
According to the statement, Adeyeye commended the Comptroller-General of Customs and his team for joining the fight against the importation of illicit, substandard, and unwholesome products.
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She called on all well-meaning Nigerians to partner with the agency by reporting all suspected cases of manufacture, importation, distribution, or sale of fake and substandard products through NAFDAC’s offices nationwide or through the agency’s various social media channels.
Emphasising the need for strong institutional cooperation, she promised to continue to evolve new strategies towards partnering with well-meaning organisations and individuals to build a safer and healthier nation, noting that safeguarding the health of the nation is a collective responsibility which NAFDAC cannot do alone.
“Among the various substandard regulated products seized were 1.3 million bottles of codeine syrup (a highly controlled prescription-only medicine), 12.6 million tablets of Tramadol, a highly addictive prescription-only drug product used for the management of post-operative pain in adults, as well as 9.3 million tablets of substandard and falsified (branded) Diclofenac tablets (a non-steroidal anti-inflammatory prescription drug used for the management of osteoarthritis and rheumatoid arthritis).
“Other regulated products seized include 280 packages of Hyergra tablets (a falsified brand of Sildenafil Citrate for the management of erectile dysfunction in men), as well as four containers of unregistered and substandard tomato paste,” the statement read.
