The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), on Thursday, destroyed eight containers of fake pharmaceutical drugs imported into the country through the nation’s seaports.
The Assistant Comptroller General, Enforcement, Inspection and Investigation, Usman Dankingari, said the eight are part of the 48 meant for destruction over the next few days.
He made this known at the waste destruction site of the State Waste Management Agency (LAWMA), in Epe, Lagos State.
Dankingari led the customs delegation in company with Comptroller Malanta Yusuf, Apapa Area Controller and the national spokesman of the service, DC Timi Bomodi.
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC); National Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA) and the Department of State Services (DSS) were also represented during the destruction of the items
According to Dankingari, the unregulated drugs like the ones being destroyed were fueling banditry, kidnapping and insecurity in the country.
“These types of drugs fuel banditry, armed robbery, terrorism and insecurity in the country, and the reason the Federal Government, through the Customs and NAFDAC, regularly mop up these drugs from circulation.
“It is on the basis of this that the Comptroller General of Customs, Col. Hameed Ali (rtd), mandated us to come and destroy these illicit drugs in collaboration with other government agencies.
“For today, we are destroying eight containers of these drugs. In total, we have 48 containers of drugs that will be destroyed in the coming days.
“These drugs came into the country as import units but were seized after examination revealed that they are substandard and fake, don’t have expiry or manufacturing date, didn’t pass through NAFDAC regulation and have everything written on them in foreign languages that Nigerians won’t be able to read,” he said.
He said that among the drugs destroyed are Tramadol in various brands, Diclofenac, Codeine and all sorts of analgesic drugs that were not certified for consumption by NAFDAC.
Discussion about this post