Customs seized 35 containers of tramadol, handed 9 to us – NAFDAC DG

The Director General, National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Prof. Moji Adeyeye, has said that the Nigerian Customs Service (NCS) seized 35 containers of Tramadol at various ports in the country but handed only nine containers to the agency.

NAFDAC Director-General, Prof. Moji Adeyeye Adeyeye disclosed this while speaking with newsmen in Abuja on Sunday.

She said nine out of the seized containers of Tramadol were released to NAFDAC by the Nigeria Custom Service (NCS), and had been destroyed by her agency.

“We are seriously working with the custom on this and each time they seize any container, they usually invite us to come and see the containers with Tramadol.

“So far, 35 containers were seized and only nine of them have been handed over to NAFDAC which we have destroyed,” she said.

Adeyeye, however, decried the delay by the custom in handing over the rest of the containers to her agency.

The NAFDAC boss stated that Tramadol was a restricted drug but had been abused by Nigerian youths who use it without prescription.

According to Adeyeye, who is a professor of pharmacology, the drug destroys children’s brain thereby threatening the future generation of the nation.

She lauded the present administration for placing an embargo on codeine, which she said, like Tramadol, should only be given only by prescription as done in advanced country.

The director-general said the agency was more determined and committed than ever to stem the menace of illicit and fake drugs in the country.