The Abia State Government has shown a hint of plans to update the state’s outdated drug law to incorporate more severe punishment and imprisonment for marketers involved in selling counterfeit, expired, unregistered drugs and other products.
Alex Otti hinted at the possibility on Thursday in Aba during a meeting with representatives of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control and Ariaria, Eziukwu, and Tenant Road markets officials.
Mr Anyanwu Obialor, the Aba South Local Government Council Chairman, and Mrs Ngozi Nzenwata, Director of Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria, Abia Chapter, also joined the meeting.
Otti, through his Chief Press Secretary, Mr Ukoha Njoku, appealed to the traders to refrain from being parties to the offenses by expired pharmaceutical vendors and counterfeiters or face further punishment.
According to him, as we pursue these killers who poison our people with expired medicines from the markets now, they will likely move into the suburbs of Aba to continue their wicked acts.
“To save yourselves, when you see something, say something, or these people, when found, will cause you to have your houses sealed while you go elsewhere to live for months awaiting conclusion of investigations”, Otti said.
Earlier, the Zonal Director, NAFDAC, Mr Martins Iluyomade, said that the meeting was to announce the reopening of shops that were not found culpable in sales of illegal products or counterfeiting products, which were sealed.
He however said that some of the shops sealed by the agency in the markets would not be reopened until the owners were found.
According to him, this is to inform traders who are not medicine dealers or counterfeiters, but had their shops sealed, of the decision of the agency to reopen their shops shut in the past three weeks or more.
”There are conditions however, which must be met by the traders whose shops were sealed before they can be reopened, and as soon as you meet those conditions, your shops will be reopened.”
The NAFDAC zonal director regretted that the training and lifeline of free NAFDAC registration offered counterfeiters at the Eziukwu market to transform their activities into legal ones were not accepted by the traders.
Meanwhile, Mrs Ngozi Nzenwata, Director, PCN, Abia chapter, stressed the need for the state government to assist medicine dealers get a Medicine Mart or a Wholesale Coordinating Centre to ensure proper regulation of sales of medicines in the state.
In the same vein, the Chairman, Aba South LGA, Mr Anyanwu Obialor decried people calling themselves traders and engaging in the sale of consumables that could cause death.
He promised to collaborate with the Abia Government and NAFDAC to severely punish any trader found culpable.
Obialor disclosed that henceforth the council would revoke any shop found counterfeiting or selling expired products in the markets.
The market union leaders, Mr Mike Okoro and Moses Ibe, for Eziukwu market, James Nwogu for Ekumi /Ariaria market and Chimezie Ugwu for Tenant Road markets thanked NAFDAC and Otti for reopening some of the shops earlier sealed
They promised to help stop the counterfeiting and sales of illegal products while calling for consideration for the remaining shops not yet reopened.
