The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) on Thursday commenced the destruction of 88 containers loaded with expired and fake pharmaceutical drugs imported into the country.
The expired pharmaceutical drugs, worth several billions of naira, were intercepted at various seaports and land borders by officers of the Service in recent times.
Speaking in Lagos at the Alaro dumpsite in Epe, Lagos, the Assistant Comptroller General of Customs, Enforcement, Inspection and Investigation, Timi Bomodi, stated that the destruction of the contraband would be carried out across the country.
ACG Bomodi, who is also the Chairman of the Committee for the Identification, Isolation, Evacuation, and Destruction of Illegally Imported Pharmaceuticals set up by the National Security Adviser (NSA), said the next phase of destruction after Lagos would take place in Port Harcourt and Kano.
According to ACG Bomodi:
“This exercise cuts across the Federation. We’re starting here in Lagos, specifically with about 88 containers. We’ll also be going to Port Harcourt, where we have over 20 containers, then Calabar and Kano. So, it cuts across the country.
“It’s an exercise that is very dear to the heart of the National Security Adviser, particularly with regards to the public well-being and welfare of our people.
“When you add the implications for security, it becomes even more important. I’m sure you’ve seen everyone here because it’s a multi-agency approach now being deployed to effectively tackle this menace of importing substances or items not approved by designated agencies.”
Bomodi, who disclosed that the contraband destroyed was worth several billions of naira, emphasized that the expired pharmaceuticals posed a serious challenge to the health and well-being of Nigerians.
“Well, it’s a lot. I don’t have the Duty Paid Value (DPV), but it’s significant because we’re talking about hundreds of 40-foot containers spread across the country and others that were not packaged in containers,” ACG Bomodi stated.
The Customs ACG further revealed that, in collaboration with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the Nigerian Drug Law Enforcement Agency (NDLEA), and the Office of the NSA, efforts are being intensified to put an end to the importation of fake and expired pharmaceuticals into the country.
Also speaking, the representative of the National Security Adviser, Commodore Kingsley Ogbonna, stated that the NSA, Mallam Nuhu Ribadu, is committed to ensuring that fake and expired pharmaceuticals are eradicated from the nation’s system.
