Ex-Football arrested for selling fake drugs

By LINUS EFFIONG, Umuahia

Daniel Orji, a former player of Abia Warriors Football Club of Umuahia, has been arrested for selling fake drugs.

Orji, 23, was arrested by Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Council (FCCPC) for selling medicines that were declared fake and dangerous.

While answering questions from journalists, the player lamented how serious ankle injury pushed him out of football and forced him into dealing on fake drugs.

The Lokpanta, Umunneochi Local Government Area of Abia State indigene said his last participation in active football was in 2020 when he suffered a serious ankle injury while playing for Abia Warriors against Wiki-Tourists of Bauchi Football Club.

He told our correspondent that he was forced into the business of selling fake eye drops and other medicines.

Orji, who was arrested with his companion, Okechukwu Obinna, from Abayi-Mbasaa, Ugwunagbo LGA Abia State, confessed to selling the concoction, but stressed that he and companion were yet to sell the product to anybody before they were caught.

He said, “I came across Jenkins Foundation when I was injured while playing for Abia Warriors in a match against Wiki Tourists of Bauchi in 2020 and someone recommended their balm to me, saying it is affective.

“I used it and it worked for me, because I was relieved but some time later, the injury came back and I had to drop from football having nothing to do.

“Unable to secure a club, I called someone in Jenkins Foundation explaining my ordeals and situation to him, he asked me to get a hall I can pay for so they can be supplying their products to me to sell.

“I have also sold these type of products for another Foundation called Chi-Foundation in my LGA Umunneochi, but this is the first time I am opening my own.”

Our Correspondent reports that Orji, who pretended to have been trained in the field of local medicine, opened his own fake drugs Foundation called Evangelist Dunamis and Dunamis Foundation and was planning to market his fake products before he was nabbed.

Explaining how they were arrested, Sir Nnabugwu Chidi, FCCPC, Abia Chairman, said his men caught Orji and Obinna right in the act of selling the mixture of vegetable oil and other substances as eyedrops.

“For the past eight months, we have been on this issue of medicine and have gone to Ekwulobia and other parts of Anambra State to look for these people.”

“There were arrested one of them called Mr. Jenkins and the Anambra State Commissioner of Police even asked us for every information which we gave to them.

“We have been working in collaboration with neighbouring states in South East and South South to ensure we stopped this menace.

“These people are using a certain brand of vegetable oil, put it in an eye drop bottle, give a brand name to it and ask people to use it as eye medicine.

“They also have other concoctions they call medicine which they give people to consume without approval and their so-called medicines are all about fibroids, malaria and other diseases,” he said. (Daily Trust)