NAFDAC impounds confectioneries worth N2.5 million, seals 12 shops in Anambra

Barely a week, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), destroyed fake and adulterated drugs, the agency on Monday, impounded confectioneries worth about N2.5 million in the Ogbaru Relief Market,

popularly known as Ogbaru Main Market, Onitsha in Anambra state reports www.odogwublog.com.

The NAFDAC officers also sealed-up 12 shops filled-up with confectioneries, which were mostly milk candies (sweet), consumed a lot by children.

The Public Relation Officer of NAFDAC, Mr Anslem Okonkwor, explained that a team of the agency's officials from its investigation and enforcement directorate stormed the market over the fake and unregistered confectioneries in the market.

Okonkwor said NAFDAC acted on a tip off following surveillance reports that some unregistered confectionaries illegally imported into the country were sold in the market.


``The raid came as a result of complain in our office by public spirited individuals about some people smuggling some unregistered confectioneries, which NAFDAC has not certified and approved for human consumption into the market,’’ he said.

Speaking, a Chief Regulatory Officer in NAFDAC, Mr Joseph Idowu, who laid the raid, noted that when they got to the market, the cooperation they got from the market union was not encouraging.

``As you can see, we were unable to even arrest just one of these unscrupulous traders and charge that person to court to serve as a great deterrent to other due to negative activities of the market leadership here.

``As one of them must have connected the fake product dealers through phone calls, making them to run away.


``However, four traders had been early reported to us.

``And we were able to break one of their shops where the fake milk candies were found as well as sealed-up many other shops within the confectioneries line of the market,’’ Idowu said.

He also berated the leadership of the market for the obstruction of NAFDAC regulatory duties; adding: ``This is unlike Bridge-head Drug Market, Onitsha where their leaders use their hand to sanitized their market’’.

NADFAC had issued out invitation letter to the market chairman telling him and those whose shops were sealed to report to their office zonal office in Onitsha for clarification.

It was gathered that the children consuming unwholesome and fake candies and other confectioneries might be the leading cause of cancer and diabetics 2 among children between the ages 10 and 17.