Nigeria’s National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has warned Nigerians that the use of performance-enhancing substances known as aphrodisiacs could lead to stroke or sudden death.
The Director-General of NAFDAC, Professor Mojisola Adeyeye, decried the preponderance of performance-enhancing drugs otherwise known as “manpower” in the local parlance, in the Nigerian market.
In her Christmas and New Year goodwill message to Nigerians on Sunday, Prof. Adeyeye said that most of the performance-enhancing drugs were not registered with NAFDAC and were smuggled into the country.
“If they were registered, the producers and peddlers alike would not be doing what they are doing in the supermarkets, social media platforms, and on the streets,” local media reports on Monday quoted Prof. Adeyeye as saying.
She stressed that many men have died using performance-enhancing drugs and their relatives would blame their death on some imaginary witches in the village.
Prof. Adeyeye described as false, the claim by the producers of such products that they have no side effects, noting that majority of the products do not go through the approval process of the agency.
She assured that the agency would not relent in going after the peddlers of such dangerous drugs until they were brought to book for violating the regulations.
“Many people are ignorant of the possible damage that misuse of aphrodisiacs or use of unregistered drugs could cause,” Prof Adeyeye said, adding that there were manufacturing, quality guidelines, and mandated regulations that control the production, importation, exportation, advertisement, and the use of such products.
She urged Nigerians to avoid health complications after the Christmas and New Year events by eating and drinking right.
GIK/APA