From Olanrewaju Lawal,Birnin Kebbi
National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has sealed off a ware house located in Jega town, Jega Local Government area of Kebbi state over harbouring and distribution of contraband and counterfeit goods and drugs.
State Coordinator of the Agency, Alhaji Muyideen F. Suleiman led his surveillance and other staffs to the warehouse alongside Security agency.
It was gathered that the warehouse, are being run by over 300 traders under the joint ventures, using it to store smuggled items from Ghana and other nearby countries before distributing the unregistered goods across states of Nigeria.
A truck, with registration number Katsina MSH 214 XA was also sighted in front of the warehouse, loaded with contraband items, preparing to be en route to Kano State but impounded by the NAFDAC.
While addressing newsmen after sealing off the premises, Suleiman explained that the contraband items found in the warehouse, smuggled in from Ghana, including Paraforce, Goldtime, Dirifam, Techinisem, Tethomol and Agro-crown which were all adulterated and smuggled in from Ghana.
According to him, “I was sitting in the office today when my colleagues who were on surveillance in Jega town call me that they suspected a warehouse with contraband goods, three regulating officers accompanied by one Policeman. It was out of their own curiosity as regulating officers, they sighted a trailer, loading commodities from the warehouse that looked like our regulated products. So they stopped and moved closer and behold, they discovered these products.
“Set of about five different products. The most disturbing aspect of our discovery is this product call Paraforce. It an agro-chemical, uses to spray grasses, to kill grasses on the farm. When they saw it, it being produce by one company in Nigeria, call Jubali. But, unfortunately, when they look at it, there was no registration number on it. Meanwhile, the Jubali product here in Nigeria has our registration number on their product.
“From our experience, as most as they tries to fabricated the product, there were different and it doesn’t have NAFDAC registration number. So, the curiosity aroused. They decided to check the warehouse where they found out that the product were fully stored in the 100ft by 100ft warehouse.
“Again, the same warehouse was stored with the fake Paraforce and other smuggled items, human drugs call Goldtime’. The one we know is registered with NAFDAC number. But this fake one doesn’t have the registration number. They only packaged it with the resemblance canton”.
Suleiman disclosed that other contraband products discovered at the warehouse including Dirifam, Tethomol which is similar to Tramadol, and Dynwell stressed that , the Agency would continue to wage war against fake and contraband products in Nigeria.
He said: “all these products you have seen here are counterfeits , none of them are registered. On a rough estimate, all the products in that warehouse could not be less than N200 million. They are counterfeit goods”.
He said that the warehouse has been sealed, the trailer too has been chained and properly added over to the police until the agency reinforce it enforcement officers to evacuate the goods and the vehicle from the scene of the crime.
Suleiman added that the agency have identified few suspects as the owners of the counterfeit goods which include; one Nura Na-Medina, Bashar Hamdala and one Wali, stressed that the police have been informed to monitor them before the agency’s enforcement officers arrived.
He appealed to the businessmen and women, to always register their food and drugs goods they are dealing with to avoid the wrath of NAFDAC.
