There was a mild drama in Abeokuta, the Ogun State capital on Thursday when officials of the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) disrupted the unveiling of an anti-coronavirus herbal syrup.
The incident happened at Centenary Hall, Ake, Abeokuta, where an herbal medicine expert, Paul Oni, was billed to address a press conference and exhibit the product called “Oxibiotics.”
Apart from disrupting the programme, the NAFDAC officials further went to inspect the product’s factory and sealed it indefinitely.
Speaking with newsmen in Abeokuta, a top official of NAFDAC in the state said programme was stopped because the product had not been scientifically certified. The official alleged that the herb producer had concluded plan to release the herbs to the public without the knowledge of the agency.
He said: “The producer is a client. He knows the procedures having secured NAFDAC number for some of his products on two different occasions. But this product, in particular, has not passed through the NAFDAC processes”. “Besides, he breached the advertisement control policy by advertising the product.
And he deliberately did not invite us to the programme. If truly it’s a certified product, he would have invited us”. “So, we just got the hint this morning; that’s why we went there to stop the programme. We equally went to his factory and sealed the factory.”
But speaking with reporters, Oni denied bypassing NAFDAC’s procedures in the unveiling of his anti-coronavirus herbal product. He stated that the programme was meant to seek partnership, support, and raise funds for the product to undergo the proper processes and certification.
Oni, who is a retired military officer and Managing Director of Peculiar Projects Nigeria Limited, explained that he only produced a few numbers of syrup to showcase to journalists and not in large quantities for sale.