Posted by On Monday, while conducting an enforcement operation against substandard drugs in Abuja, some criminals attacked NAFDAC inspectors.
The officers were assaulted by the thugs during a raid at the Area 1 auto park, according to the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN).
Criminals attacked law enforcement personnel, including on-the-go police officers, and smashed the windshield of the Agency car with stones.
Before the media and NAFDAC officers could flee for safety, police had to use teargas and fire multiple shots into the air to disperse the thugs.
According to Mr. Umar-Ahmed Suleiman, the team commander and an Assistant Chief Regulatory Officer at the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), the raid was carried out after the agency got intelligence about a large quantity of pharmaceuticals that did not meet the required standards in the park.
While we have completed some work on this operation since 2023 in response to an intelligence report from the DSS, we are now attempting to wrap it off with today’s exercise at Area 1 motor park.
It was because we noticed how calm the drug hawkers were peddling their wares and how many people were buying from them that we decided to conduct a raid.
As members of NAFDAC’s investigation and enforcement unit, we consider this a typical occurrence.
That is why we always bring our armed mobile police officers and, in the event of an arrest, our Investigative Police Officers along.
Upon our arrival here today, we wasted no time getting to work. However, to my utter dismay, we have only completed a fraction of the task at hand because the drug vendors all ran away, oblivious to the fact that they were actually re-enforcing against NAFDAC.
They returned in full force and attacked us; they shattered the windows of our vehicle and pelted us with stones.
He expressed gratitude for the teargas and gunfire that forced them to flee the site.
But according to Suleiman, the enforcement team will step up its game, be better prepared, and take the necessary actions.
A number of banned substances, including Rohypnol, Dizapam, Tramadol 500 mg, Tramadol 225 mg, Cocodamol, and a plethora of afrodisiacs with codeine syrups, were seized by the enforcement team, he claimed, notwithstanding the onslaught.
The narcotics confiscated, in his estimation, are worth more than N5 million.
“The enforcement unit will be returning to Area 1 motor park to complete the operation,” he announced, adding that the park is known for its shoddy drug sales.