From Mustapha Adamu, Kano
The Kano state Task force Committee on Fake and Counterfeit Drugs has revealed that it has seized fake and unwholesome drugs worth N6 billion since its inception in 2012.
The Chairman of the committee, Pharmacist Ghali Sule made the disclosure at a media briefing, titled; Meet the Media, organized by Kano Council of Nigeria Union of Journalists (NUJ), held at its secretariat on Saturday.
According to him, Kano state used to be ranked number one in the consumption of unwholesome drugs in the country, adding that the state has now dropped to sixth position, courtesy of the committment of the committee, alongside related agencies to rid the state of the illicit activities.
Pharm. Sule stressed that the committment of the committee had brought sanity in the state, country and the whole Africa, noting that if Kano is rid of fake drugs, many counties in Africa are sanitized.
“If you sanitize Kano of fake drugs, you are sanitizing many countries in the region of Africa of substandard drugs because countries like Chad, Niger , even Sudan and others buy fake drugs from Kano. So, our committment is yielding fruit,” he said.
He said after the seizures, the committee had destroyed all the drugs, Disclosing that about twenty destruction exercise have been conducted within the period under review.
“We have destroyed all the seized drugs. Twenty destruction exercise have been conducted sine inception of the committee in 2012, mostly witnessed by the state governor,” Sule said.
The Chairman also states that the committee, which has NDLEA, NAFDAC, Police, vigilante, KAROTA and other agencies in its composition, had succeeded in driving away street drug hawkers in the state.
“As you can see, street drug hawkers had been drastically reduced. Even if not 100 percent, but their activities had been drastically reduced. We have xhSed them out of the . They have now relocated to neighbouring states,” he said
The Chairman also stated that the committee has continued to intercept and seized fake drugs, disclosing that in four days ago, it had intercepted fake malaria drug.
He noted that if such drugs are left undetected, they would cause much harm on the health of the people, especially pregnant women.
While appreciating the support of security agencies, the Chairman also lauded the effort of federal government to support state governments, including Kano in the fight against drug abuse in the country.
