NAFDAC officers return to ports after 7 years – DG

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) officers have returned to the nation’s ports after seven years to check importation of illicit drugs.

Prof. Moji Adeyeye, the Director-General of NAFDAC, made this known to our correspondent in Abuja on Wednesday.

Adeyeye said that she took up the task in ensuring that officers of the agency were returned to the various ports to prevent illicit, fake drugs and similar products from coming into the country.

She said that the absence of her officers at the nation’s ports was the main cause of having illicit drugs like tramadol and codeine coming into the country.

“Returning NAFDAC to our ports is one of the struggles I fought when I assumed duty as the director-general in November 2017.

“We are back to the ports for the past two and half weeks; there was abuse of such opportunity in the past.

“Our officers now have change of attitude on the way they do things.

“Being at the ports to check and prevent entry of illicit drugs is one of our mandates taken away from us before we were reinstated recently at the ports.

“We are thinking of the safety of Nigerians, that is why we put quality management system in place for the benefit of our end users who are Nigerian populace,” she said.

The NAFDAC director-general said that the opportunities were misused by some officers of the agency who allegedly involved themselves in corrupt practices.

It was reported that NAFDAC officers were removed from the ports in 2011 by the management of the Nigerian Port Authority.