The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has exposed a deceptive operation in Port Harcourt, Rivers State, where individuals posing as missionaries and offering free healthcare were found to be distributing counterfeit and unregistered medical products.
Acting on a tip-off from concerned citizens, NAFDAC officials raided the Community Town Hall in Abuloma, where these fake caregivers were operating under the guise of evangelism. Mr. Chukwuma Oligbu, the South-South Zonal Director of NAFDAC, revealed this information to the press at the agency’s Port Harcourt office.
According to Mr. Oligbu, the illicit products being distributed included unregistered “Evangelist Jenkins Supernatural Water,” cleansers, and eye drops. Alarmingly, these products were falsely advertised as treatments for a wide range of serious health conditions such as goitre, cancer, pile, arthritis, rashes, fibroids, cataracts, and glaucoma.
The NAFDAC South-South Zonal Director urged the public to be vigilant and support the agency’s efforts to protect public health. He announced the arrest of a middle-aged woman, Mrs. Gladies Theophilus, following the raid led by the Rivers State NAFDAC Coordinator, Mr. Emmanuel Onogwu, at the town hall located on Jetty Road in Abuloma, Port Harcourt.
“I hereby warn the general public to beware of these unscrupulous elements claiming to be evangelists and selling concoctions in the name of medicine to unsuspecting members of the public,” Mr. Oligbu cautioned. “These products are not registered or verified by any government body, and anybody patronizing them is doing so at their own peril.”
Pharmacist Oligbu reaffirmed NAFDAC’s dedication to safeguarding the anonymity of whistleblowers who report the activities of counterfeit product manufacturers that endanger public health