The National Agency For Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raided a three storey uncompleted building at Azagba Ogwashi near Issele-Azagba, Aniocha South LGA in Delta where illicit drugs and injectables vials are produced.
The uncompleted building which belongs to a notorious fake drug dealer, Ekene Igwe Emmanuel, serves as factory and residential apartment for his family, reports The Nation.
The agency enforcement team, who led reporters to the scene, arrested one Blessing Igwe, wife of the prime suspect, who is at large and two other occupants.
NAFDAC Head of the team, Babatunji Omoyeni, Deputy Director, Investigation and Enforcement of Federal Taskforce for South South and South East, said that the agency had successfully tracked a drug shop at Ogbo-Ogu Bridge Head market, in Onitsha where illicit drugs were sold.
Omoyemi said items recovered, included a big drum containing thousands of vials soaked in liquid substance, adulterated and expired drugs, including large quantities of chloroquine phosphate 322 mg/5ml, petazine injection 50mg//2ml, gentamycin injection 280mg/2ml and many other contraband injectables with new labels.
He said efforts were being made to track the prime suspect, adding that Blessing Igwe, wife of the culprit would be arraigned in court for trial.
NAFDAC Director for South East Zone, Dr Martins Iluyomade said the plan is on to seize the storey building.
Iluyomade said, “I feel very sad for our country, and the kind of things that are playing out. Only God knows how many people have died from consumption of the illicit drugs produced by these merchants who are looking for money at all cost, and perpetrating these heinous crimes using all manners of avenue including inciting the public against what NAFDAC is doing; using ill gotten money after killing a lot of people. Nigerians need to be very vigilant”
”The prime suspect at large is one of the major traders at Ogbo-Ogu Bridge Head drug market in Onitsha who has been in this illicit drug business. What these drug merchants have done since they knew that Ogbo-Ogu market is no longer safe for their illicit drug business, they have moved out to neighbouring places like Asaba in uncompleted buildings, relabelling injectables that expired far back 7 years ago”.
Iluyomade said the drug dealer arbitrarily labelled the vials after cleaning off the original information including expiry dates etc.
He said, “They use a chemical to clean off the original information on the injectables and then label them as they want and sell to the public who does not know that it is death that is being sold. If you are trying to treat an illness and you are administered this drug, number one, it is wrongly labeled because what is inside is not what is labeled on it. Secondly, the original product has expired which might be promethazine but he’s labeling it as anti-malaria. Or the original product can be chloroquine and it is labeled as a very expensive antibiotic, so you don’t even know what is inside the injectable you are taking”.
