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As part of the ongoing national war against ilicit drug, the Lagos State Environmental Protection Agency (LASEPA) in collaboration with National Agency For Food and Drug Administration Control (NAFDAC) on Tuesday, destroyed 260,000litres of Codeine Syrup.
NAFDAC, which also said that following the federal government directive on the ilicit drugs it has mopped up over two and a half million bottles of codeine containing syrup from all over Nigeria by the Agency’s Pharmacovigilance and Post-Marketing Surveillance Directorate.
Speaking at the public destruction of hazardous drugs at LASEPA office Alausa Ikeja., the Deputy Governor, Dr. Kadir Obafemi Hamzat who was represented by the Commissioner for Environment and Water Resources, Mr. Tunji Bello, said that Lagos would join force with the NAFDAC to rid the state off ilicit drugs in whatever forms.
He described the collaboration between LASEPA and NAFDAC as a good initiative towards decongesting the environment of hazardous products. According to him, the synergy would go a long way in reducing the rate of consumption of codeine among the youths, noting that the consumption of codeine containing syrup is on the increase in Nigeria.He explained that the LASEPA Effluent Treatment Plant was put in place by the State Government for the destruction of expired, adulterated, hazardous products among others, adding that the decision to chose LASEPA disposable plant to carry out the exercise was deliberate.
The General Manager of LASEPA, Dr. Dolapo Fasawe on her part, said that the agency has the right to sanction recalcitrant environmental offenders and protect the environment against all kinds of pollution ranging from water pollution, air pollution, sound pollution among others. Fasawe said that manufacturing companies have been charged to get a functional Effluent Treatment Plant for proper discharge of their hazardous chemicals, disclosing that the monitoring and enforcement officials from the agency will continue to monitor the process and method of waste disposals by these companies. Dr. Fasawe, therefore, urged manufacturing companies to put in place Effluent Treatment Plant for proper discharge of their waste into ecosystem to avoid being sanctioned by the State Government.
Speaking on the genesis of the drug war, Director General, NAFDAC, Prof. Mojisola Adeyeye said the decision to destroy the hazardous drugs was welcomed as result of mass consumption of codeine containing syrup by some Nigerian Youths and the its effects. She said: ” NAFDAC as a responsible agency of the State Government sometimes ago, called for immediate regulation of production of syrup and the directive resulted in the recovery of over two and half million bottles of codeine containing syrup from all over the country by the Agency. “
According to her, after several deliberations on how to destroy the two and half million bottles of codeine syrup, NAFDAC found LASEPA Effluent Treatment Plant suitable for the proper destruction of the products.Adeyeye said this decision was made to ensure the products are safely destroyed without constituting hazard to the environment, adding that LASEPA has technical competence and capacity to undertake the destruction effectively
“After a lot of deliberations by the Agency’s Management, NAFDAC rationally decided that LASEPA waste disposal facility will be used to destroy the product. We arrived at this decision because we wanted the product to be safely destroyed without constituting hazard to the environment.”
