The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has sealed some sections of Eziukwu Road Market in Aba South Local Government Area of Abia state.
150 shops sealed
They were sealed due to the activities of some unscrupulous individuals who hide in the market to produce unwholesome fake products.
NAFDAC’s team working on reliable information, raided the market and discovered volumes of faked popular brands of local and foreign products in some lock-up shops, which serve as their factories.
150 shops at the market were shut down, during a two-day operation on Monday and Tuesday, December 16 and 17, 2024.
Counterfeit products worth N5 billion
NAFDAC’s team observed different brands of local and foreign brands of beverages- wines, whiskey, yoghurt, carbonated drinks, dry gin are being produced at a dirty environment of the market.
NAFDAC noted that the team destroyed items that were valued at N5 billion.
The NAFDAC team also discovered a section of the market, where dates of expired products are revalidated for redistribution to unsuspecting consumers.
This was made known in a statement shared on its website on X, accompanied by videos.
Martins Iluyomade, director, South East Zone of NAFDAC, who led the operation, described the unwholesome products found in the market as weapons of mass destruction.
Iluyomade stated thus:
“NAFDAC Shuts Down Eziukwu Market Over Fake and Expired Products Worth ₦5 Billion.
“NAFDAC has shut down 150 shops at Eziukwu Market, Aba, Abia State, during a two-day operation on December 16 and 17, 2024.
“The team uncovered large-scale production and distribution of fake and expired goods, including beverages, carbonated drinks, wines, spirits, vegetable oils, and revalidated food items such as noodles, powdered milk, and yoghurt.
“The destroyed items were valued at ₦5 billion.”
Speaking on the development, the Director General of NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, “reaffirmed the Agency’s zero tolerance for such practices and emphasised its unwavering commitment to safeguarding public health while working toward a permanent solution to the problem of counterfeit products in the market.”
See the videos below:
NAFDAC speaks on the made-in-Nigeria NIVEA deodorant
Earlier, Legit reported that the NAFDAC announced the ban on the sale of sachet alcoholic drinks.
NAFDAC disclosed that the five-year window given to the manufacturers started in 2019 and ended on January 1, 2024.
According to her, the agency took the route of wiping out the drinks in such sachets because of the adverse effects on underage children.
