Hoodlums attack NAFDAC officials on enforcement drive in Abuja

Hoodlums on Monday attacked officials of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) who were on enforcement operation against substandard drugs in Abuja.

The officials were attacked by the hoodlums during a raid at Area 1 Motor Park in the nation’s capital.

They harassed the enforcement officers including mobile policemen, stoned the agency’s vehicle, and broke its windscreen.

It took the intervention of police officers who shot into the air several times and released teargas to disperse the hoodlums before NAFDAC officers could scamper for safety.

The team leader, Mr. Umar-Ahmed Suleiman, told journalists the raid followed intelligence received by the agency of a high volume of substandard drugs in the park.

He said: “This exercise that we just conducted today at Area 1 motor park is as a result of an intelligence report received from DSS in 2023, although we have done some part of it then, we are trying to conclude the operation.

“You can see a lot of drug hawkers relaxed selling their products and people patronising them, that was why we raided the place.

READ ALSO: NAFDAC issues alert on five contaminated syrups

“What happened is a normal thing to us in the investigation and enforcement unit of NAFDAC.

“That is why anytime we are going, we go with our armed mobile police officers, and Investigative Police Officers in case of any arrest.

“On our arrival here today, we swung into action but to my surprise, we had not even done half of the work, when the drug hawkers all absconded, not knowing that they were re-enforcing against NAFDAC.

“They came back in full force, attacking us, you can see our vehicle how they broke the glass, throwing stones at us.

“Thank God for the gunshot and teargas released on them and we had to leave the scene.”

He said the team seized some controlled drugs including Rohypnol, Dizapam, Tramadol 500mg, and Tramadol 225mg, among others despite the attack.

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