The coordinator of National Agency for Food, Drug and Control ( NAFDAC ), Pharmacist Okeke Olisa disclosed that the agency was working assiduously to ensure that people of Abia state and visitors who may wish shop in Aba, the commercial hub of the state buys original products.
Olisa in an exclusive interview with our reporter lamented attacks on its personnel by traders especially at Eziukwu/Cemetry Market; 2nd largest market in Aba, however commended the cooperation and assistance they have enjoyed with the police and other sister agencies that provided cover for them during their operations to avoid mob action on its personnel. This is even as he stated that no amount of attack would deter them from doing what is right.
According to Olisa, the agency in August carried a raid at Eziukwu market where reports have it that traders in the market have penchant to selling of fake and adulterated products, confiscated fake products of about N20m during the operation.
The NAFDAC chief stated that the agency as part of its measures to ensure that they frustrate and nip the activities of fakers in the bud, have deployed its men in various market and production plants to carry out surveillance on what goes in and out of the markets and also to ensure that products churned out for use or consumption met NAFDAC approved standard.
“Aba is a commercial city where we have businessmen and opportunists who wants to capitalize on the good intentions of some businessmen to bring in things that are not genuine. It is expected in a commercial city like Aba and most commercial populated cities. That is why the management of NAFDAC in its wisdom located its office in Aba instead of being cited at the State capital and it has helped in curbing the tendencies of fakers bringing in fake products in Aba and Abia State as a whole.
“Eziukwu market for instance is a place where you have highly unsafe packaged food products. Because of the volume of trade on cosmetics and other items going in the market, some people have come to group themselves with the aim of faking good products, but most times, we have raided them.
“We go there for routine inspection and as we speak, we have our men on ground at the market and checking what they have on the shelves. In the month of August we carried a raid on a particular zone where we got hint that people were faking products. We succeeded in carting away fake products that worth over N20m from that zone. It might interest you to know that while we were doing that, touts in that market attacked our personnel.
“Again in September, they attacked us again in that market. It would have been more fatal if not for the assistance of police personnel that were with us. We are not deterred.
“We have entered the Christmas period where you see influx of goods and services. There is high propensity that people are going to buy things in the market which is common place during the Christmas period. So we are all out to make sure that people who are going to cease that opportunity to bring in fake product would be nabbed.
“Within this period, we normally increase our surveillance activities and also rely on our informants and good citizens who are willing to give us useful information about the activities of suspected faking of product adulteration in their vicinity,” the NAFDAC chief stated
Stating the desire of the agency in ensuring that shoppers continue to buy original products of their choice in the market, he warned that the agency would make faking and adulteration of products an unproductive venture for those who engage in such illicit business.
He however encouraged Small and Medium Scale Entrepreneurs (SMEs) who are yet to register their products to do so without hesitation, stressing that registration of products is now flexible which he said was to help owners of SMEs to grow, compete favourably with their counterparts at the local and international market and also help to put food on the tables of the producers of such product(s).
