The National Agency For Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has rounded up one Abdulroheem Muideen Ajao who manufactures illegal herbal products in Ibadan, the Oyo State capital.

NAFDAC also sealed up Ajao’s eight-room rickety herbal hub situated behind Periscope Model College at the Muslim Area of the city.

The Southwest Director of NAFDAC, Mrs Florence Ajayi who led her team to the area, revealed that the long arms of the law caught up with the suspect following an intelligence report from the people of the community.

Ajayi disclosed that as soon as the members of the Muslim Community hinted the agency of the nefarious act, the Surveillance Unit of the NAFDAC swung into action and apprehended the suspect to put an end to production of harmful and illicit drugs.

“The community here tipped our agency, made our surveillance for inspection. The aftermath of the visit shows that the environment for production is not hygienic, informed the director- general who is currently outside the country”, the director said.

Ajayi pointed out that ignorance and illiteracy have been the background of wrong herbal drug processing in the country.

Speaking on the processes of registration, the Director said: “There are three processes to registration including documentation with payment, laboratory analysis and report for approval, but as I speak there is no application for registration at all with NAFDAC”

Confessing to the act, Ajao, the producer of At-Taqwah Multipurpose Herbal Medicine and Oladem Multi-purpose Company Limited, stated that he was surprised to be nabbed over alleged unhealthy production of herbal products.

The suspect noted that he had been operating in the area over five years, distributing successfully across the South western part of the country, including Lagos State, stressing that his products serve a cure to hypertension, fever, sex malfunctioning and other related diseases.

He claimed that he had applied for approval from NAFDAC costing a sum of N500,000 with an existing certificate from the Corporate Affairs Commission in Nigeria.

He said: ‘’We are producing herbal products. We distribute to Jos, Lagos and other parts of the country. I have been in this business for about five years. The name of the herbal product is At-Taqwah Herbal Product. So, it is working for fever, malaria, body pain and hypertension. The process is going on at the NAFDAC office. I’ve started the process over two years now, costing me N500,000’’.

The NAFDAC however faulted the narrative.

He added that those who lent him the money are threatening me to return the money, saying that was why he decided to start manufacturing the product. (The Guardian)

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