The National Agency for Food, Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC), has solicited the cooperation of security agencies in Anambra to combat the menace of fake and counterfeit food and drugs in the state.
Mr Martins Iluyomade, Director of NAFDAC in charge of South East, gave this indication when he visited the Commissioner of Police, Anambra Command, Assistant Inspector General of Police in Charge of Zone 13 and Director of Department of State Services (DSS), Anambra, in their offices.
Iluyomade said Anambra was strategic to drug distribution in Nigeria and that if fake and counterfeit products could be checked in the state, a large part of the menace in the country would have been solved.
The Zonal Director who was accompanied by Mr Louis Madubuatta, the Coordinator of NAFDAC, Anambra, and Mrs Victoria Akudu, the Zonal Public Relations Officer, said they were at the Police Command to give face to the long standing partnership between the two federal agencies.
He thanked the Police in Anambra for their cooperation over the years but expressed displeasure that some Police officers within Onitsha had turned themselves to regulators instead of helping NAFDAC in enforcement.
“The collaboration between NAFDAC is rooted in the Act establishing the agency, so I am here to bring that partnership to life in Anambra and the entire Southeast.
“Anambra is strategic to drug distribution in Nigeria, they are very industrious, so we want to protect the people and the hardworking manufacturers and entrepreneurs
“We want to ensure that when people buy a product, they will be getting the full value of what they are consuming,” he said.
Iluyomade called on genuine manufacturers to approach NAFDAC and regularise their operations by subjecting their processes to the agency’s supervision instead of counterfeiting other products and compromising public health safety.
At the DSS, the Zonal Coordinator urged the Service to avail the agency its grassroots intelligence resource to enhance its surveillance capacity.
He said it was the effectiveness of the interagency collaboration that resulted in the bursting of beverage producing syndicate in Aba, Abia state, where over 240 shops in a market were used for production of fake drinks.
“Imagine if that volume of adulterated drinks found their way into the market and the society,” he said.
In his response, CP Aderemi Adeoye, Commissioner of Police in Anambra, promised full cooperation of the Command whenever their assistance was needed.
Adeoye expressed surprise at the phenomenon of ‘NAFDAC Fegge’ which was a name for some unscrupulous personnel who performed the role of the regulatory body.
He promised to investigate the activities of such personnel with the assurance that they would be severely penalised, while urging NAFDAC to provide information that could help in tracking them.
“No Police officer should take custody of regulated product seized by NAFDAC unless the agency deposits it for safety reasons and if they do, the item should never be tampered with by the Police because it is evidence. Doing so, will amount to an offence.
“We are always available to work with you, whenever you need our services, just inform us,” he said.
Earlier in his office, Mr Godwin Aghaulor, Assistant Inspector General of Police in charge of Zone 13, Ukpo, commended NAFDAC for its commitment to saving humanity through regulation of products.
Aghaulor said that the problem of fake products with its attendant threat to the society was real and assured that Zonal Command would collaborate with the agency whenever it was needed for effective execution of its job. (NAN)
By Chimezie Anaso
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