In Kaduna State, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control destroyed unregistered and counterfeit pharmaceutical products worth around N2 billion on Thursday.
Consignments of counterfeit Pregabalin capsules were stopped before they could be sold in Nigeria as part of the destruction operation, which took place at the Gonin Gora dumpsite in Kaduna.
Martins Iluyomade, NAFDAC’s Director of Investigation and Enforcement, stated during the exercise that the operation demonstrated the organization’s determination to combat the distribution of counterfeit and inferior medications.
He said that the confiscated Pregabalin capsules were fake goods that were misrepresented as agency-approved registered medications.
“The original product had already been registered and approved by the agency, but the destroyed product, Pregabalin, was unregistered and faked by counterfeiters,” he stated.
Pregabalin is a restricted medication that is only used to treat neurological conditions. NAFDAC has zero tolerance for counterfeiting, so anyone engaged in it should be aware that they are in for a difficult time right now.
According to Iluyomade, the Nigeria Customs Service, NAFDAC, and the Office of the National Security Adviser collaborated to share intelligence and intercept the goods.
He went on to say that the Kano airport was allegedly used to transport the phony pharmaceuticals into the nation.
He claims that within two months, 503 boxes of Pregabalin Capsules IP 300mg, or roughly 11 million dosages, were seized by law authorities.
“It is really important to us that the items are not returning to the system. Our purpose is to protect the country’s health.
Therefore, he stated, “the destruction is to show accountability and demonstrate that nobody is here to play games with the health of Nigerians.”
Iluyomade also cautioned that by cloning approved medications to seem like real ones, counterfeiters had gotten more skilled.
Speaking as well, NAFDAC’s North-West Zonal Director, Dadi-Mullah Natim, stated that the organization regularly inspects production plants and distribution networks to make sure safety regulations are being followed.
He counseled Nigerians to get medications from authorized vendors and to always ask for receipts in order to ensure traceability.
