Posted by On Monday, a few thugs assaulted NAFDAC officers who were conducting enforcement actions against inferior pharmaceuticals in Abuja.
According to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), during a raid at Area 1 Motor Park, the thugs attacked the officials.
The lawbreakers stoned the agency’s car, shattering its windshield, and harassed the law enforcement personnel, including mobile police officers.
Before journalists and NAFDAC officers could run for their lives, police had to put out a concerted effort to scatter the thugs by firing multiple shots into the air and releasing tear gas.
The raid was carried out in response to information the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) received regarding the large amount of subpar pharmaceuticals found in the park, according to the team leader, Mr. Umar-Ahmed Suleiman, an Assistant Chief Regulatory Officer.
“We are attempting to wrap up the operation, even if we have completed parts of it since the DSS’s 2023 intelligence report, which is why we conducted this exercise at Area 1 Motor Park today.
We raided the location because we noticed that several drug sellers were selling their goods in a comfortable manner and that customers were doing business with them.
“To us in the NAFDAC enforcement and investigative unit, what transpired is typical.
For this reason, whenever we travel, we bring our mobile police officers who are armed as well as investigative police officers in case we make an arrest.
We got right to work as soon as we were here today, but to our astonishment, the drug dealers all fled, not realizing that they were re-enforcing against NAFDAC, before we had finished even half of the job.
“They returned with full force, attacking us; you can see how they threw stones at us and damaged the glass in our vehicle.
Suleiman asserted, however, that the enforcement team will bolster, further prepare, and take appropriate action.
He said that in spite of the assault, the enforcement team had been able to confiscate a number of banned substances, including several aphrodisiacs with codeine syrups, Rohypnol, Dizapam, Tramadol 500 mg, Tramadol 225 mg, and Cocodamol.
He claims that the substance that was taken into custody was worth more than N5 million.
“The enforcement unit will return to Area 1 Motor Park to conclude the operation, as it is a troublesome area for substandard drug sales,” he stated. (NAN)