February 27, 2025
The Abia State Government has said that the state is set to amend its law on expired drugs, introduce stricter penalties, including imprisonment, for traders involved in the sale of fake, expired, and unregistered medicines and products.
Governor Alex Otti, disclosed the plan on Thursday at a meeting with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC and representatives of Ariaria, Eziukwu, and Tenant Road markets in Aba.
Otti, who was represented by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Ukoha Njoku, warned traders against complicity in the activities of expired medicine dealers and counterfeiters, stressing that they would face harsher punishments if found guilty.
According to him, “as we pursue these killers who poison our people with expired medicines from the markets now, they will likely move into the suburbs of Aba to continue their wicked acts.”
“To protect yourselves, if you see something, say something, Otherwise, when these individuals are caught, you may find your houses sealed while you are forced to live elsewhere for months, awaiting the conclusion of investigations,” Otti warned.
NAFDAC Zonal Director Mr. Martins Iluyomade, had earlier said the meeting was convened to announce the reopening of shops that were sealed but not found culpable in the sale of illegal or counterfeit products.
He however noted that the agency would not reopen some sealed shops in the markets until the owners were identified.
“This is to inform traders who are not involved in selling medicines or counterfeit products but had their shops sealed that the agency has decided to reopen their shops, some of which have been shut for the past three weeks or more,” he said.
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Iluyomade, maintained that before the sealed shop can be reopened, the affected traders must meet specific conditions before. “Once you fulfill these conditions, your shops will be reopened.”
The NAFDAC zonal director regretted that counterfeiters at the Eziukwu market had rejected the training and free NAFDAC registration offered to them as a lifeline to transition into legal businesses.
Those in attendance at the meeting were the Chairman of Aba South Local Government Council, Mr. Anyanwu Obialor, and the Director of the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria, PCN, Abia chapter, Mrs. Ngozi Nzenwata
Meanwhile, market union leaders of Eziukw, Ekumi/Ariaria and Tenant Road Markets expressed gratitude to NAFDAC and Governor Otti for reopening some of the previously sealed shops.
They pledged to support efforts of NAFDAC and the state government to rid the markets of c,ounterfeit and illegal drug sales and appealed for reconsideration of the remaining sealed shops .
