By Uche Amunike
As part of the National Action Plan (NAP 2.0) 2023-2027 of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the agency has embarked on a crackdown on illicit drug trade which has resulted in the seizure of expired, banned and fake drugs and medical products including antiretroviral drugs donated by USAID and UNFPA, as well as male and female condoms.
In the past few days, NAFDAC has carried out this enforcement operation across three major drug markets in the country namely, Onitsha, Aba and Lagos.
Speaking, during a press conference at the Presidential Villa in Abuja, Wednesday, the NAFDAC Director- General, Prof Mojisola Cristianah Adeyeye described this operation as the biggest in the history of NAFDAC.
According to her, the value of the seizure, which was made in Ariaria and Eziukwu markets in Aba, Bridgehead Market (Onitsha) and Idumota Drug Market, is over N1 trillion.
She explained that the crackdown was aimed at improving regulatory compliance, safeguard public health, and eliminating counterfeit medicines.
She also stated that the exercise which started on February 9, 2025 involved 1000 security operatives which include military personnel, police and Department of State Services (DSS) agents.
The security forces, she said, cordoned off the markets to prevent traders from smuggling out illegal products, adding that the operation exposed shocking violations of drug storage and distribution regulations, including diverted donated medical supplies.
Also discovered were large quantities of expired USAID and UNFPA donated antiretroviral drugs and condoms, which were meant to support Nigeria’s HIV/AIDS response. They were already repackaged for sale.
The NAFDAC boss stated that the said medications were either improperly stored or deliberately resold for profit, thereby undermining the global efforts to combat HIV/AIDS in Nigeria.
Large quantities of Tramadol, Flunitraxepam (Rohypnol), Nitrazepam and Diazepam, all linked to the increasing drug abuse, crime and insecurity in the country where also seized.
She maintained that the volume of narcotics discovered by NAFDAC was sufficient to destabilize national security, stressing that a large quantity of Tafradol, which was recently banned in India after a BBC undercover investigation exposed its illicit export to Africa was discovered in Onitsha. She explained that the drug has been unapproved worldwide, but yet widely abused in Nigeria.
She noted also that vaccines, thermolabile drugs (which require cold storage) and prescription medicines were found stacked in toilets, rooftops and staircases at dangerously high temperatures.
Worse still, Oxytocin injections and other essential drugs were found stored under extreme heat, thereby rendering them potentially harmful and ineffective.
Pharmaceuticals were packed in some warehouses in rooms without windows, where the temperatures could reach 40°C, accelerating chemical degradation.
Fake, expired and unregistered drugs were found hidden in the plumbing and wood plank sections of the Onitsha Bridge Head Market, which is far from the usual focus of the authorities, while unregistered and falsified products are found in over 7000 shops screened during the enforcement exercise.
Adeleye announced that so far, 40 arrests have been made and suspects currently facing prosecution while a database of the offending shops and their owners has been compiled for further legal action. There will also be a public destruction of the seized drugs in the three cities after the exercise.
As it stands, NAFDAC is seeking tough penalties for defaulters and is calling on the National Assembly to amend the NAFDAC Act and the Counterfeit and Fake Drugs Act to impose life imprisonment or even the death penalty for convicted counterfeit drug dealers
She averred that the sealed drug markets may be reopened in about a week.
