The Kano State Multi-Agency Taskforce on Drug Abuse and Illicit Trafficking has shut down a pharmaceutical company over the alleged illegal distribution of Pregabalin, a controlled drug widely abused in the state.
The task force chairman, Muhuyi Magaji, disclosed this on Saturday while taking journalists around the facility located in a residential area of Sabon Gari, Kano.
He said operatives discovered 3,180,000 tablets of Pregabalin valued at more than ₦900 million inside the premises.
Magaji also revealed that the task force had arrested 1,760 suspects and secured 890 convictions in its campaign against drug abuse, illegal trafficking and related crimes.
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Xenophobia: South Africa documenting victims, working on compensation – Govt official in Calabar However, he expressed concern that while the agency was working to reduce drug consumption through arrests and prosecutions, some pharmaceutical companies licensed by regulatory authorities were allegedly helping to keep the illegal supply chain running.
He accused some officials of the Pharmaceutical Council of Nigeria, PCN, and the National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, in Kano of facilitating the illegal distribution of Pregabalin and other controlled medicines.
According to him, licences issued by the regulatory bodies had allegedly made it easier for the drugs to reach the streets, despite their limited availability in legitimate pharmacies.
The task force chairman described Pregabalin as the most commonly abused substance in Kano, saying that eight out of every 10 suspected drug users arrested by the agency were either carrying the drug or admitted to using it.
He also questioned the approval of import licences for Pregabalin after NAFDAC classified it as a controlled drug on September 14, 2026.
Magaji particularly drew attention to an import licence allegedly issued to a pharmaceutical company in Kano on October 23, 2026, saying the approval needed to be investigated given the widespread abuse of the drug in the state.
He said preliminary findings by the task force suggested that the company’s owner had established another firm allegedly being used as a cover for the illegal distribution of controlled drugs through secret networks.
He further questioned how the premises obtained regulatory approval, considering the applicable land-use requirements.
Magaji also alleged that some PCN officials had connections with illegal drug distribution networks and were resisting efforts to tackle the problem because of their interests.
Expressing frustration over what he described as the protection of drug dealers, he said:
“I cannot in good conscience continue to go after the victims, that is, users, while the perpetrators (dealers) are given a shield by those who have a statutory responsibility to protect them from accessing these drugs they tend to abuse,” he said.
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