Chukwuma Soludo, governor of Anambra, has asked the federal government to intensify its fight against the importation and sale of counterfeit drugs.
In a post on X on Sunday, Soludo said globally banned drugs are slipping past law enforcement and regulatory agencies into the country.
On Saturday, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) said it uncovered prohibited drugs hidden inside plumbing materials shops at the Onitsha Bridgehead Drug Market in Anambra state.
The market was recently sealed by regulatory and security agencies over the alleged trade in illicit drugs.
“I visited the Ọgbọ ogwu and adjoining market today in Onitsha. As the biggest open drug market in Africa, it is not surprising that Federal Agencies and regulatory bodies would, from time to time, visit the market to enforce standards and check the sale of fake, counterfeit, and controlled drugs in the market,” the governor wrote.
“With drugs and related matters captured strictly on the exclusive list, my visit today was interventionist. First, I sought to ascertain why other markets close to the drug market in Onitsha were closed.
“Away from the media sensation created by a few political actors, the leadership of the Plumbing materials market, which was shut down alongside the drug market, confirmed to me that the discoveries made by the Regulators in some shops in the plumbing material market were both shocking and disturbing.
“Right inside these shops were found cartons of counterfeit and controlled drugs, many of which had been banned globally. How these drugs, which have been banned globally and locally, are still being manufactured in India, pass through our various ports (sea and air), and find their way to our local drug markets remains a question only the relevant authorities can answer.
“While we must rid our country of fake and counterfeit drugs, it is important for the Federal Government to tighten up the noose on the supply end of the value chain.”
Soludo said he has directed the search for counterfeit drugs to be expedited so that the market would be reopened.
The governor added that his administration is building a “coordinated wholesale drug centre” in Oba, Idemili south LGA which will contribute to ending the current “chaotic market environment where fake and counterfeit drugs thrive”.