The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has confiscated more than 10,000 cartons of unregistered tomato paste and cosmetic products during a raid at Lagos Trade Fair Market.
The five-day operation, led by NAFDAC’s Investigation and Enforcement team, targeted the cosmetics section of the market as part of ongoing efforts to remove harmful goods from circulation.
Dr Martins Iluyomade, Director of Investigation and Enforcement, told journalists on Tuesday:
“We seized over 10,000 cartons of unregistered tomato paste, as well as cosmetics such as creams, soaps, body sprays, washes, air fresheners and toothpaste.
“We cannot guarantee the safety of these seized products because they have not undergone any regulatory scrutiny.
“One way to safeguard public health is to remove harmful products from markets before they can kill unsuspecting Nigerians.
“I can say authoritatively that deaths from substandard medicines, cosmetics and unsafe foods exceed the number of people killed by Boko Haram.
“This is why the agency remains committed to ensuring Nigerians use only products that have passed regulatory processes, assuring safety and effectiveness.”
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He said a newly formed multi-agency task force would strengthen NAFDAC’s surveillance against substandard medicines and unsafe foods, adding that collaboration with the Nigeria Customs Service was already yielding results.
“We are working hard to prevent falsified and unregistered items from entering the country, hence our Memorandum of Understanding with the Nigeria Customs Service.
“The Nigeria Customs Service has handed over many seized fake products to us, and we have also transferred some to them,” Iluyomade said.
He urged Nigerians to take advantage of NAFDAC’s decentralised registration process to verify and register their products, reaffirming the agency’s commitment to eliminating unregistered, substandard and expired goods from the market.