Isah Ojo Officials from the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control and the Borno State Ministry of Health have uncovered several neglected warehouses storing drugs worth millions of naira in Maiduguri’s Gamboru area. The warehouses, found in isolated and unsafe locations, were used to store drugs damaged by recent floods. During a raid on Wednesday, the team, led by the Borno State Commissioner of Health, Baba Malam Gana, and NAFDAC’s Director for the North-East, Kenneth Azikiwe, seized the compromised drugs to prevent their sale and distribution.
The raid followed the directive of NAFDAC’s Director General, Prof. Christiana Mojisola Adeyeye, to prevent a public health emergency resulting from the sale of flood-damaged medicines. Speaking to The PUNCH, Azikiwe explained that the mission was to confiscate and destroy drugs that had been affected by the flood, warning that such products were no longer safe for consumption due to their compromised quality.
“We are on an evacuation mission to seize and destroy drugs damaged by the flood in the Gamboru market. These drugs are unsafe for consumption and could pose serious public health risks,” Azikiwe said, calling on the public to report anyone attempting to sun-dry or sell the affected medicines. The Borno State Commissioner of Health, Baba Malam Gana, emphasised the importance of proper drug storage, noting that the state government would work to ensure that such unsafe practices do not occur agai.