The Director-General of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, has dismissed claims that the agency’s intensified operations are hurting businesses, stating that its primary mission is to protect lives and combat counterfeit drugs.
Speaking at a press briefing on Saturday, Adeyeye emphasized NAFDAC’s commitment to sanitizing Nigeria’s pharmaceutical sector, particularly in major drug markets.
In recent weeks, NAFDAC has ramped up enforcement efforts in Onitsha, Aba, and Idumota, shutting down illegal drug warehouses and cracking down on counterfeit and unregistered medicines. Working alongside security forces, the agency has deployed over 1,000 personnel to ensure compliance.
“People have been telling us that we are disturbing trade. We are not disturbing trade. We are protecting lives. We are protecting our young people from becoming useless,” Adeyeye stated.
She recounted an operation in Onitsha where officials were attacked while trying to dismantle a network of traders storing fake drugs in plumbing and spare parts shops.
Adeyeye expressed concern over the hazardous conditions in which these drugs are stored, warning that extreme heat and humidity degrade even legitimate medicines.
“If you see what we are seeing now, you will weep for our country. These drugs are being kept in places with no windows. Even if they were good drugs, they would degrade. But many of them are not even registered. They are smuggled into the country,” she lamented.
Citing a tragic case, she narrated how a hypertensive patient unknowingly took fake medication for years, leading to severe health complications and the loss of three family members to the same condition.
“We are trying to make sure that if you have hypertension, you will get proper treatment because you are taking good medicine. If we are not doing this, people will keep taking bad drugs, and their blood pressure will stay high. They will die,” she warned.
She also raised alarm over the continued circulation of banned high-dose Tramadol (225mg), Codeine syrup, and expired USAID condoms in Nigerian markets.
“This Tramadol will fry the brain of anyone who takes it. This will destroy the future of our country, our youths, our future,” she cautioned.
Despite the Ministry of Health banning Codeine syrup in 2018 due to widespread abuse, Adeyeye said smugglers continue to bring it into the country illegally.
“We have not issued a single import permit since that time, but they keep bringing it in through the back doors. They smuggle it through the ports,” she revealed.
Addressing concerns about political interference, Adeyeye reaffirmed that NAFDAC’s actions are solely in the interest of public health.
“There is no politics in what we are doing. No politics at all. Most of these companies, most of these shops, are not even registered with the Pharmacists Council of Nigeria (PCN). PCN registers sites and the people working at those sites. The rules have been broken from the start,” she stated.
She assured Nigerians that NAFDAC remains committed to eradicating fake and substandard drugs, working closely with security agencies to eliminate illicit drug markets nationwide.
