The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Abia State Command recently stormed the popular Eziukwu Market, also known as Cemetery Market in Aba, Abia State. Several shops in the market were reportedly raided as counterfeit and relabeled expired drinks worth millions of naira were seized.
More details: According to the traders who witnessed the incident, some NAFDAC officials raided the shops which were notorious for the production and relabeling of expired products, using an automated machine for corking.
A trader who pleaded anonymity said the people whose shops were raided had implicated sellers of genuine drinks and beverage. He also stated that more powers should be given to NAFDAC and SON to rid the market, especially in Aba, of fake and adulterated products.
[READ ALSO: SON sets standards for solar product development]
“I can’t say how much the seized products are worth, but I can say it was huge. At the end of the raid, they left here with about three buses loaded with products, and we learnt that they couldn’t go with the entire items because they were enormous and may not enter the cars that they came with,” he said.
Men of the Nigerian Police Force (NPF) and the Nigerian Army were also present to ensure that the NAFDAC officials did their jobs without molestation from the traders. The seized products were fully handed over to the NAFDAC officials for further actions.
This made it the second time in less than a week that the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control is seizing fake products. 90 cartons of fake ‘Fidossi Spunmante’ drinks, a brand of alcoholic wine, without registration number was seized in Upper Sakponba, Mission Road, Benin, Edo state some days ago.
Considering the rate at which fake products are flooding the market, consumers are advised to be vigilant and ensure that they purchase only products with NAFDAC registration numbers and still within their shelf-life periods.
[ALSO READ: FG loses billions over illegal importation of steel and iron]