On Monday, the Investigation and Enforcement Directorate of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), along with the mobile police unit accompanying them, encountered resistance from enraged drug hawkers and thugs in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja.
The agency’s enforcement team was conducting a raid targeting fake, unregistered, and counterfeit drugs at the Area One motor park in the FCT when they came under attack.
As the enforcement operation progressed, the hawkers and thugs at the park began hurling stones and other dangerous objects at the team and journalists present.
To quell the situation, the mobile police deployed tear gas and fired warning shots into the air, dispersing the attackers and allowing the enforcement team and journalists to retreat from the scene. Unfortunately, two vehicles belonging to NAFDAC were vandalized during the incident.
Following the raid, Umar Suleiman, the Assistant Chief Regulatory Officer of the Investigation and Enforcement Directorate, Federal Task Force, NAFDAC, spoke with journalists. He explained that the raid was based on intelligence received from the Department of State Security regarding the illicit activities of drug hawkers at the motor park.
Suleiman said, “This exercise that we just conducted at the Area 1 motor park is as a result of intelligence we received the DSS since last year, a lot of hawkers were there selling their products and many people patronizing them and that was why we raided the park.
“The attack is a normal thing for us in the investigation and enforcement department, that is the reason we always go with armed Mopol and Investigating Police Officers in case of any arrest.
“But to my surprise, we had not done half of the work when the drug hawkers absconded but mobilised in full force against us, throwing stones at us and destroying the glasses of the vehicles but with the gunshot and tear gas released on them by the armed Mopol, they soft pedalled and we had to leave the place to reinforce and go back next time.”
Suleiman, who led the team noted that the drugs seized during the raid were worth about N5m.
The enforcement team confiscated some controlled drugs like Rohypnol, Dizapam, Tramadol (500mg and 225mg), Cocodamol, and aphrodisiac, among others.