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By Nathaniel Drisu
KOGI State Government, Alhaji Ibrahim Idris has chastised drug and
food barons in Ejule, Ofu Local Government Area, for allegedly
attacking officials of the National Agency for Food, Drug
Administration and Control (NAFDAC), who were on their official
regulatory routine, saying the perpetrators would be dealt with
according to law.
The governor gave the verdict in Lokoja, the State Capital, when the
Director-General of the Agency, Prof. Dora Akunyili led her team to
Government House to lay a formal complaint about the alleged
illegality on 20th May, 2008.
Governor Idris who said he was not aware of the attack until Prof.
Akunyili’s visit, described the action of the hoodlums as barbaric,
stressing that the regulatory role of the Agency under the
Director-General is commendable “but it is ironic that the drive to
save life can become a subject of attack.”
He expressed the desire to make Kogi State one of the most fake
drug-free states in the country, adding that the state government,
if notified by NAFDAC, would henceforth provide security for the
Agency’s officials on national assignment in the state.
Describing Prof. Akunyili as an envy of many countries because of
her dynamic role in the Agency aimed at safe drugs and foods,
Governor Idris argued that though a delicate job, the activities of
criminals should not deter her and the NAFDAC officials from their
good regulatory job.
Earlier, Prof. Akunyili informed the governor that NAFDAC took
samples of locally brewed gin at Ejule and discovered that
detergents were added as intoxicant. She lamented that the officials
were attacked in their attempt to take samples of drugs, a situation
she noted, would affect NAFDAC’s regulatory activities “if the
Agency officials are at the mercy of criminals who want to protect
their illicit businesses.”
Describing fake drugs as not a Nigerian phenomenon but global, she
commended Governor Idris for supporting her Agency to curb the
menace of fake drugs in the state.
Although she expressed satisfaction with Governor Idris’
infrastructural development in the state, she pointed out that
people must be rescued from fake drugs and food to enable them live
to enjoy the facilities.
hime.
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