Speech By Prof. Adeyeye C. M
Director General NAFDAC
Destruction Exercise of Expired NAFDAC Regulated Products
Oke-Diya Dumpsite, Sagamu, Ogun State
29th March, 2019
Protocols:
It is my pleasure to welcome you all to this destruction exercise, which is in line with our strategy aimed at eradicating the re-introduction of Expired, Substandard and Falsified (SFs) Medical Products, as well as other Spurious, Unsafe and Unwholesome NAFDAC Regulated Products into circulation in Nigeria.
The products being destroyed today are made up of Substandard and Falsified Medical Products, Unwholesome Processed Food Products, Unsafe Cosmetics, Counterfeits and other Expired NAFDAC Regulated Products seized by the Agency from manufacturers, importers and distributors. Also up for destruction today are Expired products voluntarily handed over to the Agency by compliant companies, Non-Governmental Organizations (NGOs) and Trade Unions.
The estimated street value of the products scheduled for destruction today is Two Billion Six Hundred and Seventy Five Million Eight hundred and Ninety Six Thousand Five Hundred and Thirty Eight Naira Twenty Kobo (N2, 675,896,538.20). While the street value of the banned Tramadol is Two Hundred and Eighty Three Million Five Hundred Thousand Naira. (N283,500,000.00).
The current Management has been given the mandate by the government of President Muhammadu Buhari to ensure that the health of Nigerians is safeguarded. In line with this mandate, the Agency stepped up its prevention, detection and response activities towards the elimination of SFs, Unwholesome Foods and counterfeiting of all NAFDAC Regulated Products in the preceding year by training and retraining of relevant NAFDAC staff.
Furthermore, the Agency has taken the following strides in the fight against counterfeiting in Nigeria in the first quarter of 2019:
- Investigation & Enforcement officers intercepted a trailer transporting assorted Pharmaceutical products to an unknown destination. The importer, Mr. Luke Mbah, has been arraigned at the Federal High Court, Lagos for smuggling banned and fake 488 cartons of Barcadin with Codeine (cough syrup), Fake 207 cartons of Afrodiac Diclofenac Potassium tablets, Fake 44 cartons of Feed-Fine Cyproheptadine tablets (50mg each) and Fake 190 cartons of De Really Extra (Diclofenac Sodium tablet) worth Three Hundred and Eleven Million, Seven Thousand Naira (₦311,000,700.00)
- One Mr. Madubuike Chukwunonye who allegedly sold Cough Syrup with Codeine to a BBC undercover agent in April, 2018 was arraigned at the Federal High Court, Lagos. The defendant was on the run after a documentary on the alleged transaction was aired by BBC and the Nigeria Police Squad of the Federal Task Force on Counterfeit and Fake Drugs and unwholesome processed Foods invited him for interview. He was arrested by the Nigeria Police at Idiroko border while trying to flee to Benin Republic. He was subsequently handed over to the Agency for prosecution.
- One businessman, Mr. Ebenezer Arimiwem, was convicted of the manufacture, distribution, packaging, labelling and processing of different brands of Counterfeit Cosmetic Products and was sentenced to fifteen months in prison without an option of fine.
- In 2016, Alh. Yakubu Kabiru smuggled a 40ft container laden with 1,800 bags of Green Arrow Fibre Mosquito coil worth Seventy-Two Million Naira (N72, 000,000) into the country through the Seme Border. He was convicted by the Federal High Court, Lagos, and a fine of One Million and Fifty Thousand Naira (N1, 050,000) imposed on him. The court also ordered that the contraband be forfeited to the Agency for destruction and the cost thereof to be borne by him. The contraband is among the products scheduled for destruction today.
I would like to use this medium to thank the judiciary for their continued support and also appeal to them to take sterner view of counterfeiting and apply stiffer sanctions to deter counterfeiters, because of the danger they have posed, continue and still pose to the society and all consumers of their dangerous products.
Let me also plead with the National Assembly to pass the Counterfeit Medical Products Bill that will strengthen the Agency’s fight against counterfeiting in Nigeria. It is pertinent to mention that the fight is capital intensive and we need the support of the States, Local Government Councils and all credible and responsible Corporate Bodies.
We want at this juncture to reiterate that the return of the Agency to the Ports and Borders, and our close collaboration with the Nigeria Customs Service has immensely boosted our interception of several containers of unregistered pharmaceutical products including banned Tramadol of high strengths that were destined for the Nigerian market.
We commend also the Nigeria Police for their immense support and collaboration with the Agency. We implore their Formations across the Federation to share information and promptly transfer cases on Counterfeit, Spurious, Unregistered and Unsafe Food, Drugs, Cosmetics, Medical Devices, Detergent, Bottled Water and Chemicals to the Federal Task Force on Counterfeit and Fake Drugs and Unwholesome Processed Foods, Investigation and Enforcement Directorate or the nearest NAFDAC office for prompt prosecution and/or regulatory action.
We sincerely thank all our invited guests for honouring our invitation and continue to solicit their support and that of all consumers in our quest to completely eliminate the incidence of counterfeit and spurious NAFDAC Regulated Products from our beloved country.
Thank you for listening.
God bless you all, God bless NAFDAC and God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.
Prof Mojisola Christianah Adeyeye
Director General
