The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has confirmed that the nation’s borders are seriously porous, with about 1,400 illegal and unmanned routes.
The agency’s Director of Public Affairs, Mr Abubakar Jimoh highlighted this in on Wednesday in Abuja, while expressing concern over what he termed “porous nature of the country’s borders,”, which enables easy smuggling of contraband foods and drugs; just as the Comptroller-General of Customs (CGC), Retired Col. Hammed Ali, on Wednesday highlighted that the Service has destroyed various pharmaceutical products, including tramadol with a Duty Paid Value of N14.7 billion.
Consequently, Jimoh said “the vulnerability of the country’s borders made it possible for other countries to see Nigeria as dumping ground”, adding that because Nigeria has 1400 illegal routes, through which foods and drugs can be smuggled in, “we are vulnerable and all sorts of things find their way into the country”.
He noted that the agency’s Pharmacovigilance Department in charge of
post marketing survey which monitor goods coming into the country was doing its best toward surveillance.
He said that the department often embarked on surveillance to get intelligent information needed to stop illegal importation of food items and drugs into the country.
He noted that “the department was created to ensure that goods that did not pass through the normal channels were seized and those behind it were apprehended.”
