1 week ago
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The Labour Party (LP) Caucus in the House of Representatives, on Monday, cautioned the National Agency for Food Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), to avoid hurting innocent traders at ongoing crackdown on merchants of fake and counterfeit medicines.
NAFDAC had recently sealed medicine markets in Idumota, Lagos state , Ariaria, in Aba, Abia state and Onitsha, in Anambra state in an effort to checkmate spate of fake drugs for safety of the populace.
Leader of the Caucus and member representing Ogbaru Federal Constituency, Hon. Afam Victor Ogene, who made the appeal in a statement, stressed that targeting only the dealers on counterfeit and substandard drugs would help to safeguard lives but involving the innocent traders could jeopardise their efforts.
“It was reported that NAFDAC sealed the market and allegedly denied the traders and their leadership entry, as it’s officials proceeded to break into shops, carting away pharmaceuticals, without owners of such shops being allowed to witness the operation and take inventory. There are reports of some traders and Point of Sale (POS) operators who complained of leaving varying sums of cash in their shops since the closure took place at the weekend – without any means of getting same back.
“Also, at Onitsha, NAFDAC’s enforcement actions extended beyond the Medicine Market (Ogbo Ogwu), affecting the Plumbing Materials section, which was shut down about a week ago. This move has left traders frustrated, as they were abruptly locked out of their businesses. We are therefore urging the agency to adopt best practices such that legitimate and innocent traders are not caught in the quagmire,” he noted.
The LP leader urged NAFDAC to exercise caution and sensitivity in its operations to avoid unfairly impacting the livelihoods of innocent vendors engaged in legitimate businesses in the affected markets as it would help balance the agency’s regulatory mandate with the need to protect the interests of law-abiding entrepreneurs and traders.
English (US) ·