The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) to enhance efforts against the importation of illicit pharmaceuticals and other harmful substances into the country.
The MoU was signed during the Comptroller General of Customs (CGC) conference on Thursday in Abuja. NCS Comptroller-General, Adewale Adeniyi, hailed the agreement as the result of years of dialogue and coordination between the two agencies. He stated, “This partnership addresses a major challenge we face as a nation.”
Key aspects of the MoU include intelligence sharing, with real-time exchange of information between NCS and NAFDAC. Adeniyi highlighted a recent instance of collaboration:” Sometimes, at midnight, NAFDAC DG sends intelligence to me, alerting us about a suspicious container arriving in the morning. This level of information flow is vital to our joint mission.”
He acknowledged that earlier efforts, including a declared state of emergency at one port, were insufficient in tackling the volume of illicit pharmaceutical products infiltrating Nigerian markets. “It is time to collectively declare this the beginning of the end. We must save Nigeria and secure the future of our children from these dangerous products,” he said.
NAFDAC Director-General, Moji Adeyeye described the partnership as essential, given the daily consumption of regulated products by Nigerians.
“This is about ensuring that the food, drugs, and healthcare items we consume are safe and of the highest quality,” she said.
Adeyeye also raised concerns about the national security risks posed by unregulated products, noting that some approved chemicals could be misused by criminals or terrorists.” There are ghost companies operating outside our radar. This MoU marks the beginning of the end for such practices,” she declared.
The collaboration underscores a unified commitment to safeguarding public health and national security while addressing the growing menace of illicit trade in regulated products.
