Nigerians have been advised to be wary of fake and smuggled products into the country because of the hazards it caused to human health and its negative effects on the economy of the country.
The Comptroller of Customs, Federal Operations Unit, FOUC, Zone ‘C’, Owerri of the Nigeria Customs Service, Comptroller, Yusuf Lawal, gave the advice while supervising some of the seized fake and contraband products worth over N120 million between July and August 2021.
Lawal urged Nigerians to confirm the quality of products before purchasing them for use, warning that so many medicinal and cosmetic products were being smuggled into the country without a NAFDAC number.
The Customs boss listed some of the goods impounded to include 130 bags of 50kg foreign parboiled rice valued at N5,460,000 million and 2,181 cartons of foreign cosmetic products without a registration number from the National Agency for Food and Drugs Administration and Control (NAFDAC) valued at N76,335,000 intercepted along the Okada/ Benin expressway.
He said that the cosmetic products included 457 cartons of Simple Sensitive Skin Expert; 790 cartons of Facial Wash, 232 cartons of Carotone Cream, 574 cartons of various brands of cosmetics and 128 cartons of Revlon Almay Godess Gloss.
Other seized items were 440 cartons of Artesunate injection zensunate without NAFDAC number worth N8,580,000 that was intercepted along the Okada-Benin Expressway, 449 cartons of fan pop sweets worth N7, 485,000m intercepted along the Lagos-Benin Expressway and 161 jumbo bales of used clothing valued at N22,500,000m that were intercepted along the Enugu- Port -Harcourt Expressway.
He added that his men and officers were fully prepared and equipped to combat all nefarious activities of smugglers, especially with the festive ember months by the corner.
Lawal thanked sister agencies as well as the media and the Comptroller-General, Col. Hameed Ibrahim Ali, for their holistic support to the Service and pledged to continuously checkmate the activities of smugglers in line with his constitutional mandate so as to reduce smuggling in the zone to its barest minimum.
He said: “those who use non-NAFDAC certified cosmetic products stand the risk of skin cancer just as those who consume anti-malarial drugs without a NAFDAC number are only experimenting with their lives.”
He declared that the importation of foreign rice is against the Federal Government’s agricultural policies and warned that smugglers would never be allowed to operate freely.
He urged Nigerians to cooperate with the Service as it continued to block all leakages, thwart antics of smugglers and sanitise the country irrespective of whose ox is gored.
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