The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has closed the Gomboru drug market in Maiduguri, Borno State, where contaminated medications were being washed and sun-dried for resale following the recent devastating floods in the area.
In a statement on the agency’s X account, it was announced that the closure was ordered after the flooding submerged the market, resulting in the contamination of the drugs.
“After the recent flooding in Maiduguri that submerged the Gomboru drug market where contaminated drugs were washed and sun-dried for resale, the @DGatNAFDAC ordered the immediate closure of the market to conduct a thorough shop-to-shop removal of these compromised drugs,” NAFDAC wrote.
The Maiduguri flood crisis was caused by the rupture of the Alau dam on the Ngadda River, 20 kilometres (12 miles) south of Maiduguri.
The severe flooding claimed at least 30 lives and forced 400,000 people from their homes.
“The death toll is 30,” National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA) spokesman Ezekiel Manzo told AFP a day after water from an overflowing dam swept away thousands of homes in the capital city of Borno state.
“The situation in Maiduguri is quite frightening,” said Manzo’s NEMA colleague Zubaida Umar.
“The flood has taken over around 40 per cent of the entire city. People have been forced out of their homes and are scattered everywhere.
“From our statistics, we have 414,000 displaced people,” Umar said. He told the BBC’s Hausa language service that officials feared that number could reach one million.
According to the National Emergency Management Agency (NEMA), over 23,000 households and more than 150,000 individuals have been affected by the rapid rise in water levels.
Additionally, at least 286 inmates reportedly escaped from the Maiduguri Medium Security Custodial Centre due to the severe flooding.
NEMA also reported that approximately 80 percent of the animals in the zoo have died, while 20 percent have escaped into the surrounding areas of the metropolis.