The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has issued a warning against attacking or obstructing its personnel during enforcement operations against substandard drugs and falsified goods. This warning was given by the Director of Investigation and Enforcement, Mr. Shaba Mohammed, in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria on Wednesday in Abuja.
Mohammed explained that the warning became necessary following an attack on NAFDAC’s enforcement team by drug hawkers and touts in February. He stated that some of those involved in the attack are facing trial before Justice Joyce Abdulmalik of the Federal High Court, Abuja, and that the arraignment would serve as a deterrent to those with similar intentions.
Those arraigned recently in court are part of those who attacked NAFDAC officials while on enforcement duty some months ago. “Arraigning them in court is to pay for their sins, and this is also to advise the public to desist from attacking NAFDAC staff while on duty,” Mohammed said.
He acknowledged that counterfeit products are in circulation, but emphasized that they are brought into the country by unscrupulous elements who do not mean well for the country. Criminals who bring in counterfeit drugs use hawkers to push them into circulation, and NAFDAC will not stop arresting hawkers until the whole system becomes sanitized.
Mohammed emphasized that arresting hawkers would help NAFDAC track the sources of counterfeit products, whether imported or locally produced. He urged the public to support NAFDAC in sanitizing the system, noting that sales of drugs in marketplaces, hawking, or in moving vehicles is prohibited by NAFDAC law.
Anyone caught in such an act will be prosecuted thoroughly because that is obstruction of the Federal Government team in performing its jobs. “Sales of drugs in marketplaces, hawking, or in moving vehicles is actually prohibited by NAFDAC law. This is regarded as a criminal act, and that is why we are prosecuting those that have committed the crime against the NAFDAC act,” he said.
As the Director of Investigation and Enforcement in NAFDAC, Mohammed vowed to work closely with the Federal Task Force, comprising other related agencies, to rid the country of counterfeit drugs and goods. He listed some of the organizations to be inaugurated as part of the team, including the Pharmacist Council of Nigeria, Customs Service, and Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Council.
One of the strategies the task force would deploy to curb fake drugs is the manning of points of entry into the country to intercept all counterfeit products. “We will also be using Post Marketing Surveillance, whose officials would function like undercover agents,” Mohammed added.
In summary, NAFDAC has warned against attacking its personnel during enforcement operations and vowed to sanitize the system by arresting hawkers and tracking the sources of counterfeit products. The agency urged the public to support its efforts and warned that sales of drugs in marketplaces, hawking, or in moving vehicles are prohibited and criminal.
