April 19, (THEWILL) – The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raided some stores and markets in Abuja for allegedly selling counterfeit products.
NAFDAC Head of Investigation and Enforcement/Federal Taskforce, FCT, Abuja, Embugushiki-Musa Godiya, said the raid covered a popular supermarket, Sahad stores, H-Medix in Wuse 2 and Gwarinpa, 3rd Avenue, as well as Utako market.
He said the agency had earlier raided the Kugbo market in Nyanya and Mararaba axis in Nasarawa State on Tuesday.
Godiya, who noted that the three-day operation was carried out based on intelligence reports, said, “We have been able to successfully recover some of the counterfeit products and evacuate them for destruction. Our concern is one of the products, purported to be a NIVEA NAFDAC-regulated product, but it is not.
“The most shocking to me is that such substandard NIVEA cream and other cosmetics are even more expensive than the ones approved by NAFDAC, this is criminal.
“The market value of what we have seen so far for drug hawking is N5 million, and for the NIVEA products, other cosmetics and other products, including Jik bleach, Harpic toilet cleaner and Airwick room freshener, all counterfeit in large quantity, valued at N45 million. The total value of all the goods seized during the operation is N50 million.”
Godiya called on Nigerians to be careful with the kind of products they buy, and always watch out for NAFDAC registration numbers before they buy as such counterfeit products could cause cancer to the body, rashes and damage the kidney.
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