… Confiscates ₦170 million unwholesome medicines, other items
The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has sealed two Chinese supermarkets and eight cosmetics shops in Abuja for selling unregistered, expired, and banned products in violation of Nigeria’s food and drug regulations.
The enforcement exercise was carried out by the Agency’s Investigation and Enforcement Directorate in collaboration with the Federal Taskforce on Counterfeit and Substandard Medicines and Unwholesome Processed Foods.
According to a statement on Friday by Adegboyega Osiyemi, Deputy Director of PR and Protocol, the two supermarkets located on Mike Akhigbe Way and Ebitu Ukiwe Street in Jabi District, were shut after surveillance confirmed they were selling unregistered food items and products labelled solely in Chinese, without English translations as required by law.
Despite initial denials by a foreign national at the Ebitu Ukiwe Street outlet, NAFDAC officials confirmed the store was fully operational.
In a related operation, eight cosmetics shops in Wuse Market were sealed for selling banned and unregistered cosmetics, aphrodisiacs, and aesthetic medicines.
Investigations revealed that some operators had been posing as dermatologists and pharmacists, prescribing harmful body enhancement and skin-whitening products to unsuspecting consumers.
Among the confiscated items were Wenicks Capsules, Maxman Capsules, Boobs Enlargement products, Curvy Weight Gain, Skin Whitening Vitamin Gummies, Collagen, Royal Jelly, Glutathione Whitening Gummies, White Doll, Dr. Gallery Plus, Maiz Zaki Syrup, Original Herbal Yellow Fever, Sickle Cell Medicine, Dr. Nafisa Herbal Medicine, Dynewell Syrup, and White Blinks, among others. In total, products worth more than ₦170 million were seized.
Acting on the directive of NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, the seized goods were evacuated while the outlets were shut down.
Prof. Adeyeye stressed the Agency’s mandate to protect Nigerians from dangerous substances linked to serious health risks such as kidney damage, skin cancer, irritability, and memory loss.
“NAFDAC welcomes legitimate trade partnerships from both Nigerians and foreign nationals, but we will not compromise on public health. Any act of selling unregistered or toxic products shall be met with strict regulatory action,” Embugushiki quoted the DG as saying.
The Agency advised consumers to purchase only NAFDAC-approved products, urged foreign investors to register products through its offices nationwide, and encouraged the public to report suspicious outlets or goods to NAFDAC.
