Nigeria’s NAFDAC seizes 560 million naira of chemicals in Kano
By the AFREEQUE newsroom, based on P.M. News
Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control has sealed four warehouses and seized banned chemicals worth 560 million naira in Kano, where two people were arrested. The operation targeted Paraforce, a paraquat-based herbicide banned since 2022 because of its health and environmental effects, according to P.M. News.
Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has sealed four warehouses and seized banned chemicals worth 560 million naira in Kano. Two people were arrested during the operation conducted on 12 November, said Emmanuel Andrew, deputy director in charge of investigations and enforcement at NAFDAC, reports P.M. News.
Agents found, among other things, 2,983 cartons of Paraeforce, a paraquat-based product, valued at more than 200 million naira, as well as more than 8,000 cartons of Crownquat containing paraquat dichloride, worth more than 360 million naira. Chlopyrifos, which is also banned, and 183 cartons of unregistered Dynewell syrup imported from Ghana were also seized, according to Emmanuel Andrew.
The operation covered more than ten warehouses. In Panisau, agents sealed a warehouse where controlled chemicals suspected of being used to manufacture illicit drugs were discovered. In Jaba, another facility used for the illegal manufacture and repackaging of chemicals was shut down, with a packaging machine and other equipment recovered, reports P.M. News.
NAFDAC banned the import, distribution and use of Paraeforce-based products in 2022 because of their risks to health and the environment. Emmanuel Andrew said enforcement of the ban began in January 2024 and that operations would continue until the illegal stocks had been cleared.
