Kano Customs Hands Over Unregistered Medicines to NAFDAC, Vows Tougher Enforcement
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Kano/Jigawa Area Command, has handed over 45 cartons of unregistered pharmaceutical products intercepted at the SAHCO Shed of the Mallam Aminu Kano International Airport to the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC).
The Customs Service also warned importers and other individuals involved in the illegal trade in pharmaceuticals against attempts to introduce unapproved medicines into Nigeria, stressing that such activities pose serious risks to public health.
The Acting Customs Area Controller, Kano/Jigawa Area Command, Deputy Comptroller Usman Adamu, disclosed this on Wednesday, August 19, 2026, during a press briefing and formal handover ceremony at the Customs House, Bompai, Kano.
Adamu said the pharmaceutical products were intercepted at different times between May 11, 2018, and February 2, 2026, and subsequently subjected to a 100 per cent joint physical examination by officials of the NCS and NAFDAC.
He said the examination confirmed that the products were neither registered nor certified for circulation in the Nigerian market.
The seized consignments comprised 87,100 tablets of Zyloric 100mg, 129,000 tablets of Primolut 5mg, 397,800 tablets of Allopurinal 300mg, 3,120 tablets of Proviron 25mg and 2,530 vials of Propofol 20mg.
Others were 89,670 tablets of Tenoheal 300mg, 14,940 ampoules of Ondican 4 Injection and 6,000 capsules of Orlistat 120mg.
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The Acting Controller said the handover was carried out in accordance with the Memorandum of Understanding between the NCS and NAFDAC, as well as Sections 4(f) and 55(1)(c) of the Nigeria Customs Act, 2023, which empower the Customs Service to protect the country against prohibited and harmful imports.
He said the interceptions demonstrated the Service’s resolve to prevent the infiltration of unregistered pharmaceutical products into the country.
“These interceptions show that the Service will not relent and will intensify efforts to ensure that unregistered pharmaceuticals do not enter our country,” Adamu said.
He added that the enforcement action would serve as a deterrent to individuals attempting to import substances capable of endangering public health and undermining the nation’s economy.
Receiving the products on behalf of NAFDAC, the Officer in Charge of the agency’s Ports Inspection Directorate, Kano, Azik Kanadi, described the handover as another demonstration of the importance of sustained inter-agency collaboration between the two organisations.
Kanadi said the seized medicines were imported without the requisite NAFDAC authorisation, making it impossible to guarantee their quality, safety and efficacy.
“What we have here today is a consignment of unregistered medicines imported without requisite NAFDAC authorisation. Consequently, their quality, safety and efficacy cannot be assured. Such products cannot be allowed to enter the drug supply chain,” he said.
He commended the leadership of both agencies for sustaining their collaboration, noting that intelligence sharing and coordinated enforcement operations had continued to yield tangible results, particularly in Kano.
The development underscores the importance of stronger regulatory and enforcement cooperation in preventing unregistered medicines from entering Nigeria’s pharmaceutical supply chain and protecting the public from potentially harmful products.
By PRNigeria
