The National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control, NAFDAC, has apprehended an alleged fake pharmacist, who sells expired drugs in Etsako West Local Government Area of Edo State.
The Edo Coordinator of the agency, Mr. David West, said the suspect, one Mr. Ifeanyi Okeke who runs a patent medicine shop in Auchi, was arrested during its enforcement operation in the area for allegedly selling expired and controlled drugs.
West disclosed to The Punch that some cartons of fake Tramadol, a controlled drug, and several cartons of expired drugs, such as Febecap and Augmentin, were seized from the suspect’s shop.
He said, “The enforcement exercise is aimed at ensuring that members of the public buy and consume wholesome food and drugs in order to ensure good health, through safety.
“In Benin, the state capital, about 20 cartons of different brands of popular alcoholic and non-alcoholic drinks were also seized from 12 shops at Upper Sakponba, Mission Road and vegetable market, off Airport Road, in the metropolis.
“Test kits were used to ascertain the wholesomeness of the processed drinks, during the operation,” the Coordinator added.
A Chief Regulatory Officer in the Enforcement and Operations unit of the agency, Mr. Joseph Idowu, commenting on the incident, there were lots of counterfeit drinks discovered during the raid.
Idowo decried the prevalence of fake and badly processed drinks in the capital, saying “From the areas we have covered in Benin, we have seen a lot of counterfeit drinks, which we have seized and loaded in two vehicles.
“We decided to carry out this enforcement on wine sellers because of the report of surveillance we got on wines.
“Enforcement is an ongoing process and NAFDAC is worried about the rate of fake products in the country,” Idowu noted.
Also, Mr. Godwin Okonufia, a pharmacist who was part of the NAFDAC enforcement team in Benin, urged consumers to buy processed drinks and drugs from reputable authorised sales outlets.
The pharmacist pointed out that the consumption of counterfeit food and drinks could cause kidney problems and other related diseases, noting that the sales of fake drinks along with the original ones had become a disturbing trend.
