N95b Tramadol is destroyed by NAFDAC in the Benin Republic.

In December 2022, the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) and the Government of the Republic of Benin intercepted and burned five containers of unregistered medications, including Tramadol, valued at N95 billion.

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Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye, Director-General of NAFDAC, revealed this in Abuja yesterday. She said it came after four and a half years of monitoring, with assistance from the Beninese government. NewsReport gathered.

Adeyeye explained that one of the containers was transferred to the Benin Republic’s Cotonou port, while the remaining four were initially diverted to Ghana’s Tema Port.

They were later moved to Cotonou, having met resistance from the Ghana Food and Drug Agency, which NAFDAC had already contacted for collaboration to stop the four containers.

The products found in the five containers during the joint physical examination included tramadol 200 mg and higher strengths and diclofenac tablets, among others.

Adeyeye noted that the agency liaised with the former Ambassador of Nigeria to the Republic of Benin, Kayode Oguntuase, to ensure that the port authority in the Republic of Benin affected the seizure of the five containers.

“His successor, Olukayode Aluko, never relented in his effort at ensuring that all these five containers were released to NAFDAC for destruction.

“Meanwhile, for the other 24 containers, some entities took the case to court in Benin that the containers should be brought back to Nigeria.

“It took about a year and a half, but Ambassador Aluko stayed on the case until the court ruled that the containers could be destroyed in Benin.

Alas, the government of the Republic of Benin eventually agreed to engage with its Nigerian counterparts to carry out the destruction of these containers in Cotonou.

“A team of NAFDAC officers, including officers from the Investigation and Enforcement Directorate, led by the Director of Ports Inspection Directorate, Prof. Adebayo, traveled to Cotonou, where the destruction exercise of the five containers took place on December 21st and 22nd, 2022.

“This international landmark achievement, which had never been recorded in the histories of the two countries and NAFDAC, did not come without the unflinching efforts of the staff of the Ports Inspection Directorate in Apapa and Seme Border,” she said.